US Court Of Appeals Rules That Student "Snapchat Bullying" Is Not A First Amendment Protected Activity – Litigation, Mediation &…

14 January 2022

Freeman Mathis & Gary

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In the recent decision entitledDoe v. Hopkinton PublicSchools, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuitrejected students' contention that posting abusive andembarrassing video of another student online was protected speech.The student members of the high school hockey team sued theHopkinton (Mass.) school district, the superintendent of schools,and the high school principal, and argued they were wrongfullydisciplined by the high school. Some students photographed andvideo-recorded a fellow member of the team and his family on manyoccasions, without his permission, and then shared images anddemeaning comments to a small group on the Snapchat social mediaapplication.

The offensive Snapchats included expletive-laced comments andreactions regarding the teammate's appearance, voice, anatomyand family members. A complaint was made to the school pursuant tothe Massachusetts Bullying Prevention and Intervention statute,Mass. Gen. Laws. Ch 71, 37Hand37O. An investigation determined that thevictim had suffered numerous acts of bullying as defined both bylaw and the district's Anti-Bullying Policy. Moreover, thevictim experienced being excluded, embarrassed, and feeling bulliedby the unauthorized sharing of his and his family's images onsocial media. The investigation further determined that the hockeyteam members were aware of, encouraged, joined, and participated inthe bullying. These activities occurred in the locker room, atschool, and on bus rides to away hockey games and later shared viathe internet. The involved students, including those who did notconfront the victim in person but simply joined in offensive onlinecommenting, were suspended from school.

Several of the disciplined students filed a lawsuit in U.S.District Court in Boston alleging that the school district hadviolated their rights to freedom of speech and freedom ofassociation (including the right to associate in the Snapchat groupand share offensive material) under state and federal law. U.S.District Court Judge William G. Young rejected the claims anddismissed the students' case against the Hopkintondefendants.

On appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the studentscontended that sending and discussing privatemessages among friends over the Snapchat platform was aconstitutionally-protected activity and that the school districtunlawfully interfered with their rights. The First Circuit rejectedthat bullying behaviors were protected by the First Amendment tothe U.S. Constitution. The Court accepted the conclusions by theschool district that the offensive speech and Snapchatparticipation violated school policy and state law and werecausally connected to other hockey players' active bullyingof the victim. The court noted that Children often bully asa group. The children who stand on a sidewalk and cheer as one oftheir friends shakes down a smaller student for his lunch money maynot be as culpable, but they are not entirely blameless. Thedecision held that it was reasonable for the school to concludethat the messages and the students' participation in theSnapchat group fostered an environment that emboldened thebullies and encouraged others in the invasion of the[victim's] rights. The evidence showed that they were wellaware of the effects of that conduct on their teammate. TheCourt determined that the speech and conduct at issue in a schoolenvironment are not protected by the FirstAmendment.

TheDoe v. Hopkinton Public School caseemphatically rejects the rights of students toparticipate in school bullying. It provides further guidance andprotection to schools and districts as they carry out legalobligations to investigate and discipline students for bullyingbehaviors.

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US Court Of Appeals Rules That Student "Snapchat Bullying" Is Not A First Amendment Protected Activity - Litigation, Mediation &...