Social media sites have become the new “public square” where individuals share opinions and information about all types of political and societal events. Public sector employees, as much as anyone else, use social media to post viewpoints and to participate in public debate. Problems arise, however, when a public employee posts harsh, derogatory, defamatory, or biased statements that may interfere with the public agency’s ability to effectively carry out its mission, or impact the public employee’s ability to perform job duties. This reality can result in a clash between the public employee’s First Amendment rights, and the rights of their agency to carry out its responsibilities on behalf of the public.
