Center for Public Technology

This website contains social media resources related to legal and policy issues. If there is anything I can do to assist you, please feel free to contact me (contact information at the bottom of this page).

SOG Materials and Blog Posts:

• Sample Social Media Comment Policy, March 2021, Author: Shannon Tufts
  

• Social Media Comment Policy Analysis, November 2019, Authors: Frayda Bluestein and Shannon Tufts
  

• Dealing with Harrassment and Threats Towards Local Government Employees and Officials (Kristi Nickoderm)
  
  
• Can Local Government Officials Block Their Critics on Social Media? (Kristi Nickoderm)

• The First Amendment Keeps the 'Social' in Government Social Media (Frayda Bluestein)
  

• The First Amendment and Facebook Rants 

• The First Amendment and Government Employees
  
  

• Social Media Law Presentation
  
  
• Social Media Trends and Best Practices 
  
  
• Social Media Toolkit

Recent Case Law re: Social Media and First Amendment (along with other related articles):

• Campbell v. Reisch, 2021 (8th Circuit Court Decision)
  
  
• Garnier v. Poway Unified School District 2020
  
  
• Danyelle Bennett v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, 2020 (6th Circuit Court Decision)
  
  
• Jamie Marquardt v. Nicole Carlton, City of Cleveland , 2020 (6th Circuit Court Decision)
  
  
• Robinson v. Hunt County Texas, 2019 (5th Circuit Court Decision)
  
  
• Barone v. City of Springfield OR, 2018 (9th Circuit Court Decision)

• Liverman & Richards v. City of Petersburg & John I. Dixon, III , 2016 (4th Circuit Court Decision)
  
  
• Trump Can't Block Users
  
  
• Public Officials: Beware Blocking Critics on Social Media
  
  

 Public Records Law, NC Records Retention Schedules & Public Records Blog Postings

• NC General Statute 132 (Public Records)

• Local Government Records Retention Schedules (NC State Archives)

• Public Records and Online Databases (blog posting)

• Email as a Public Record (blog posting)

• Using Private Email for Public Business (blog posting)

• Public Records Exceptions for LEO Information (blog posting)

• Text Messages as Public Records (blog posting)
  
  

Shannon Tufts, Professor of Public Law and Government, tufts@unc.edu, 919.962.5438 (office), 919.369.3179 (cell)