Government Censorship in the Digital Age: Are Your Comments Being Silenced?

In today’s world, social media is more than just a place to share vacation photos or chat with friends—it’s the modern-day town square. It’s where people voice their opinions, challenge authority, and hold government agencies accountable. But what happens when the government starts deleting, hiding, or filtering comments on its official pages?

If you’ve ever had your comment disappear from a government-run Facebook post or been blocked from engaging with a public official online, you might have experienced unconstitutional censorship. Let’s break down why this is a growing issue and what you can do about it.

When the Government Controls the Conversation

Governments use social media to communicate everything from traffic updates to new policies. But these platforms aren’t just one-way streets—they allow the public to respond, ask questions, and, yes, criticize.

Many government agencies, however, don’t like criticism. Instead of engaging, they’ve started using social media tools to:

• Delete negative comments
• Hide public criticism so only the commenter and their friends can see it
• Block users from commenting altogether
• Use keyword filters to automatically remove comments with certain words

At first glance, these actions might seem like simple moderation, but when the government does it, it’s an entirely different ball game—one that raises serious First Amendment concerns.

Social Media & The First Amendment: Can the Government Silence You?

The First Amendment protects your right to free speech, but the place where you’re speaking matters. In legal terms, different types of public spaces come with different rules:

• Traditional Public Forums (like sidewalks or parks) allow the most speech protection.
• Non-Public Forums (like military bases or courtrooms) allow the least.
• Designated Public Forums (like government Facebook pages that allow comments) must follow strict First Amendment rules.

When a government agency opens a comment section to the public, it can’t pick and choose which voices to allow. If they let people praise them, they must also let people criticize them. Otherwise, it’s unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

“Off Topic” and Keyword Censorship: A Sneaky Way to Silence Dissent

To dodge criticism, many government agencies create vague comment policies, banning posts they claim are “off topic” or “irrelevant.” Some are also using “key word filters” to automatically remove certain comments because of their content or viewpoint.

For example:

• A city government deleted comments questioning how tax dollars were spent, claiming they weren’t related to the post.
• A university filtered out words like "animal testing" to silence activists speaking out against its research practices.
• A sheriff’s office used profanity filters to remove any comment that might contain controversial language—even though profanity is protected speech.

In many cases, these policies aren’t about keeping conversations productive—they’re about suppressing dissent.

The Courts Are Taking Action

This issue is landing in court more and more. Recent Supreme Court cases, Lindke v. Freed (2024) and O’Connor-Ratcliffe v. Garnier (2024), clarified that when a public official uses their social media page for government business, they cannot block or censor critics without violating the Constitution.

Similarly, in Krasno v. Mnookin (2022), a university used keyword filters to silence criticism about animal testing. While the lower court dismissed the case, it’s now being appealed, and the decision could have major implications for free speech online.

What Can Be Done?

At our law firm, we’ve successfully litigated multiple cases of unconstitutional government censorship. The solution is simple:

• Governments should allow public comments with minimal interference.
• If they can’t handle criticism, they should disable comments entirely—not just silence the voices they dislike.

If you’ve experienced government censorship online, you may have a case. The digital town square should be a place for open dialogue, not controlled narratives.

Have Your Comments Been Censored?

If a government agency has deleted your comment, blocked you, or used filters to silence criticism, you don’t have to stay silent. Contact us today to discuss your rights and potential legal action.