General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow is it determined that an entity is part of "the press" in the sense...
... that it is entitled to legal constitutional protection?
tia
las
MineralMan
(146,317 posts)There are no other qualifications. That's settled law.
LAS14
(13,783 posts)... if I report a story about my neighbor's criminal behavior on Facebook or DU, I'm protected?
MineralMan
(146,317 posts)You are not protected, however, from being sued in civil court.
The First Amendment's protections only apply to government actions against a publisher.
There isn't really a technical definition of what is a publication. Yes, you are publishing on Facebook or DU, and what you publish is protected by the First Amendment. However, it is not protected from being deleted by the owner of the place that published your creative efforts. However, it is DU or Facebook who is the publisher, not you. If you own the publication, like a blog or some other website, then you are the publisher. Even there, however, you are subject to any restrictions of your third-party hosting service. If you own your own server, however, you are the publisher.
It's sort of complicated, but also very simple to understand. If you have something to say, you are free to publish it without government interference in most cases. You can't publish child pornography, of course, or classified government information. There are some legal restrictions that are valid. However, other than those, you can publish without worrying about the government stepping in.
If, however, you publish with the help of some organization, that organization can control what it publishes. So, DU or Facebook can delete your work, ban you from future publishing, or take other actions against you.
Only the government is restricted by the First Amendment.
Response to LAS14 (Original post)
LAS14 This message was self-deleted by its author.