Social Media and First Amendment Rights

It is known, or at least should be known, that when somebody posts something to a social media site, it becomes public, thus, it is no longer private. Yes, there are privacy settings, but there are ways for people to get around those settings. For example, a friend of the person posting can share it with other people or they can Retweet it for other people to see. I heard this story last year, and it is becoming more relevant today with the increased use of social media sites. Here is a link to the story: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304811304577366121551396072

Basically the story is about Gary Stein, a Sergeant in the U.S. Marines, who posted some criticisms about Obama on Facebook and was later discharged from the Marines because of doing so. The Facebook post said: "Screw Obama and I will not follow all orders from him." Stein later clarified the statement by saying he would not follow unlawful orders. The ACLU and many groups alike have joined Stein's side by saying he was talking in a hypothetical manner and was not referring to any current orders. Also, it is Stein's First Amendment Right to voice his opinion. David Loy of the ACLU said, "Service members do not lose their free-speech rights as private citizens to engage in political speech; they just don't." 

This brings up my point as to how social media sites are being used by the government to track people and their opinions and using it against them. In court cases today, the Court is accepting posts from social media sites as evidence. I guess the question becomes, do posts on social media sites fall under the protection of the First Amendment? My answer is yes. Therefore, Stein should not have been discharged.

On the counter-argument, military personnel said that Stein was undermining his chain of command. A former Army Colonel says that in order to understand and support the chain of command, members of the military need to recognize that their freedom of speech is limited. This new age of technology and use of social media makes everything we post become public. The average citizen will not be affected by posting their political beliefs, however, this is clearly a grey area for members of the military.