When it comes to social media, it can get tricky for businesses. When companies utilize social media to engage with customers, they always run the risk (and often deal with) negative comments. Some of it is warranted, and some of it not so much. The tried and true advice has been to not delete the content, and, when applicable, to address the issue publicly to show strong customer service.

However, a company does have a right to monitor comments, much in the way that message boards and forums pose the disclaimer that they have that right. Has a company been sued over this?

It appears that this recently happened. Earlier this month, the City of Beech Grove and the Beech Grove Police Department recently shut down their Facebook pages due to a lawsuit related to limiting freedom of speech.

 

 

So what happened?

• The ACLU filed a lawsuit in late June on behalf of two women who say their Facebook posts were deleted by the police department. They also claim they were subsequently blocked from posting on the page.

• The women claim this is a violation of their First Amendment Rights.

• The City of Beech Grove states that the women posted content and/or questions on the police department’s page that were unrelated to crime or similar content, which was the purpose of having the Facebook page.

This is an interesting suit, and I will be watching to see how it plays out. The ACLU believes that people have the right to post any content they’d like on a Facebook page; the city believes that people have the right to ask questions and post negative content, though as it relates to the scope of the page. They do not believe that people should be limited with regard to their criticism, but instead state that there are other Facebook pages the city offers for people to offer more generalized comments, questions, and opinions.

Maybe they should not have removed the posts. The other option could be to reply to the posts with a link to the appropriate page to pose their question to. According to sources, the Facebook page in question did include a disclaimer as to the page’s purpose back in June:

“This Facebook site was created to pass on information to you and to try to keep you informed as to what is occurring in our City. We will not entertain negative comments towards anyone, nor will we host arguments between individuals. We do not care who you are, we are trying to inform you. If you decide to make unpleasant comments we will delete you.”

I don’t believe the lawsuit will win in court; there is free speech, thanks to the First Amendment, but there is also a responsibility of social media users to follow a page’s or site’s terms of service. Not unlike a message board or forum, unrelated content is routinely removed; if, in fact, the women who are suing posted content that went against the purpose of the Facebook page, the city had a right o remove it. However, in the name of customer service, it might have been better to address it with the women rather than simply delete without reason. At any rate, I do not think this will hold up in court.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!