- 'Like a quake': Beirut shaken after deadliest strikes on centre
- Fallen giants Ghana in AFCON trouble after Sudan draw
- Asian leaders meet in Laos with US, Russia on world turmoil
- England gamble backfires as Pavlidis fires emotional Greece to victory
- Obama stumps for Harris, Trump talks US protectionism
- New-look France ease past Israel in Nations League
- Belgium fight back to draw with 10-man Italy in Nations League
- 'Get a life': Hurricane whips up US election storm
- Japan stay perfect in World Cup qualifying
- Relief as Lebanon evacuees dock in Turkey
- Lebanon says 22 dead in Israeli strikes on central Beirut
- NBA boss Silver sees games back in China 'at some point'
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Table tennis and Netflix push Ukraine teen into French Open contention
- Civilians flee Gaza's Jabalia in tightening Israeli siege
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 18
- At least 10 dead in Florida from tornadoes caused by Hurricane Milton
- Warhol's rare 'Queen' collection opens at Dutch museum
- Three-time NBA champion Green retires
- MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- S.Sudan floods affect 893,000, over 241,000 displaced: UN
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Windies sweat on injury to 'crucial' Taylor at World Cup
- Lebanon says 11 dead, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
- Panama lashes out at EU over tax haven 'outrage'
- Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- TD Bank to pay more than $3 bn to US in money-laundering case
- SAfrica prosecutors drop criminal complaint against president
- 'Good opportunity': Nagelsmann upbeat despite Germany's long injury list
- Hurricane whips up bitter US election battle
- Cameroon bans media talk of president's health amid rumours
- NFL MVP Jackson and rookie phenom Daniels set for showdown
- Chad's capital under threat as floodwaters rise
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut
- No answers on strike on reporters in Lebanon one year on: watchdog
- Ramharack picks four wickets as Windies beat Bangladesh in Women's T20 World Cup
- France's City of Light switches to climate-resilient power cables
- Djokovic hails Nadal 'legacy' as Alcaraz in 'shock' over retirement
- Obama hits campaign trail for Harris
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Djokovic tells Nadal: 'Your legacy will live forever'
- Ethel Kennedy, wife of RFK, dead at 96
- Zelensky denies ceasefire with Russia under discussion on trip
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- After long fight for glory, Nadal leaves with a legacy of memories
- Home hopes Zheng and Wang through to last-eight in Wuhan Open
- UN peacekeepers say Israel fired on Lebanon HQ, injuring 2
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Alcaraz out as top players pay tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters
- Racing's Farrell 'not thinking' about British and Irish Lions
US Supreme Court weighs social media 'blocks' by public officials
Can a public official block someone from their personal social media accounts?
The US Supreme Court weighed the matter on Tuesday as it sought to reconcile conflicting rulings from cases handled by lower courts.
The question reached the nation's highest court once previously, when then-president Donald Trump was sued for blocking critics on Twitter, now known as X.
But the case was declared moot by the justices after Trump was banned from Twitter and left the White House.
The cases before the court on Tuesday involved the social media accounts of a city manager in Michigan and school board members in California.
In the Michigan case, a city manager blocked a state resident from his Facebook page.
In California, the school board members blocked a set of parents who repeatedly left critical comments on their Facebook pages.
Arguing on behalf of the city manager, lawyer Victoria Ferres said "this country's 21 million government employees should have the right to talk publicly about their jobs on personal social media accounts like their private sector counterparts."
Hashim Mooppan, representing the California school board members, said "individuals who hold public office are still private citizens too."
"When acting in their personal capacity, they retain their First Amendment rights to decide who can participate in a community discussion that they host at their own property," Mooppan said.
"They are thus free to block users from their personal social media pages, unless they chose to operate those pages in their official capacities instead," he said.
Pamela Karlan, an attorney for the California parents, countered that the Facebook pages were "a tool of governance" and "of the hundreds of posts I found only three were truly non job-related."
- 'First Amendment interests' -
Justice Elena Kagan said the cases present "First Amendment interests on both sides" -- a reference to the constitutional amendment protecting freedom of speech.
"Just as there may be First Amendment interests in protecting the private speech of government employees," Kagan said, "there are also First Amendment interests in enabling citizens to access the important parts of their government.
"That's what makes these cases hard," she said. "It's that there are First Amendment interests all over the place."
References to Trump's Twitter account surfaced repeatedly during Tuesday's oral arguments.
"I don't think a citizen would be able to really understand the Trump presidency, if you will, without any access to all the things that the president said on that account," Kagan said.
"It was an important part of how he wielded his authority," she said. "And to cut a citizen off from that is to cut a citizen off from part of the way that government works."
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling next year.
F.Schneider--AMWN