Opinion | The Supreme Court Gets a Social-Media Test

Some lower courts have divined in the First Amendment’s penumbra a right to follow politicians on social media. On Tuesday the Supreme Court will consider whether the Constitution bars public officials from blocking constituents on their personal accounts (O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed).

Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, elected school board members in California, used personal Facebook and Twitter accounts they created while running for office to campaign and inform constituents about education news. The officials blocked two parents for making “repetitious and non-responsive comments” on their pages.