Public Forums:

Avoiding Legal
Pitfalls
Josh Bentley, Ph.D.
j.bentley@tcu.edu
The Plan
•  Public forums

•  Policing content

•  Policy tips
But First…
“Congress shall make
no law…abridging the
freedom of speech or of
the press…”

The 14th Amendment

means this applies to all
levels of government.
Restricting
Speech
•  Content-based
restrictions

•  Time, place, and

manner restrictions

•  Private companies are

allowed to restrict.
Public Forums
•  Traditional public
forums

•  Designated public
forums

•  Nonpublic forums
Traditional
Public Forums
•  No viewpoint
discrimination.

•  TPM restrictions must

serve substantial
government interest
and be no more
restrictive than
necessary.
Designated
Public Forums
Government may
impose certain limits:

•  Topics

•  Participants

•  Speaking time
Designated
Public Forums
•  Government may stop
disruptions.

•  Government may not

discriminate against
viewpoints.
Nonpublic
Forums
•  Restrictions must be
reasonable.

•  Restrictions must be
viewpoint neutral.
Government
Speech
•  The government may
speak on issues
without creating a
forum.

•  Inviting responses,
however, does create
a forum.
Which is it?
Policing
Comments
•  No viewpoint
discrimination.

•  No banning users.

•  Delete comments that

disrupt the forum.
(obscene, threatening,
off-topic, spam…)
Setting Policies
•  Set narrow,
objective, definite
standards.

•  Terms like civil,

reasonable or
offensive are too
vague.
Setting Policies
•  Encourage employees
to think before they
post.

•  Do not censor
viewpoints on
personal social
media pages.
Questions?
Recommended Resources
•  Digital Media Law Project
http://www.dmlp.org
•  Sara Hawkins’ Media Law Blog
http://sarafhawkins.com
•  Free Speech Rights in Government Social
Media Sites
http://canons.sog.unc.edu/free-speech-rights-
in-government-social-media-sites/