The Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office is violating the First Amendment by blocking specific individuals and news organizations from commenting on its official Facebook page while continuing to allow comments from other members of the public.
David Flash, publisher of Big Bend Times and Texas Reporter, confirmed that his personal Facebook account and the official accounts of both news outlets are currently blocked from commenting on the Sheriff’s Office page. At the same time, the page remains open for comments from other users.
This practice constitutes viewpoint discrimination, which is prohibited by the First Amendment when carried out by a government entity.
Official Facebook Page Is a Public Forum
The Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office uses its Facebook page to post official announcements, public safety information, and departmental messaging. Because the page allows public comments, it operates as a limited public forum under established federal law.
In a limited public forum, government agencies may enforce neutral rules—such as prohibiting spam or threats—but may not exclude speakers based on criticism, viewpoint, or unfavorable speech.
Federal courts have consistently held that blocking individuals from official government social media pages because of their speech violates the Constitution, including rulings involving law enforcement agencies and elected officials.
Selective Blocking Is Ongoing
The Sheriff’s Office has not blocked all comments, disabled commenting entirely, or applied neutral moderation rules. Instead, it has selectively blocked specific accounts associated with journalism and criticism of county officials.
No notice of rule violations, warnings, or neutral moderation standards was provided to the blocked accounts prior to the restriction.
“The government does not get to pick and choose who may speak in a public forum based on whether it likes the speech,” Flash said. “If the Sheriff’s Office opens the page to the public, it has to treat the public equally.”
Formal Notice Sent
Flash has sent the Sheriff’s Office a formal notice of constitutional violation and a notice of tort claim, demanding that the Sheriff’s Office immediately restore access and cease viewpoint-based exclusions.
The notice states that if the violation is not cured, Flash will seek injunctive relief in federal court, as well as recovery of costs and damages permitted by law.
Courts in similar cases have ordered government agencies to unblock users and have, in some instances, required the payment of attorney’s fees and damages.
