In April of this year, the US District Court of Eastern Virginia decided that "liking" something on Facebook did not constitute free speech. Now, the five plaintiffs are taking their case to an appellate court, and this time, they have the support of the ACLU and Facebook behind them.

The plaintiffs, all of whom worked in the Hampton, VA Sheriff’s Office, had originally sued for their First Amendment rights after three of the plaintiffs "liked" their boss’s political rival on Facebook and subsequently lost their jobs when he won the election and remained in office. The sheriff, B.J. Roberts, claimed that the terminations were due to cost-cutting measures, but the plaintiffs were able to prove that Roberts knew about the turncoat Facebook Likes in court.

The district court still ruled that it "is the court’s conclusion that merely 'liking' a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection," the ruling read. "In cases where courts have found that constitutional speech protections extended to Facebook posts, actual statements existed within the record."

Now, in the 4th US Court of Appeals, the ACLU and Facebook have filed amicus briefs in support of the five plaintiffs. The ACLU wrote, "Liking" a political candidate on Facebook—just like holding a campaign sign—is constitutionally protected speech. It is verbal expression, as well as symbolic expression. Clicking the 'Like' button announces to others that the user supports, approves, or enjoys the content being 'Liked.' Merely because ‘Liking’ requires only a click of a button does not mean that it does not warrant First Amendment protection."

Facebook, too, filed an amicus brief "to explain how Facebook operates and thus to provide additional background that may illuminate the nature of the speech interests at stake in this case." Maybe that sounds condescending, but several legal scholars (including those published on Ars) were genuinely surprised at the District Court’s original ruling, saying that "simply liking" something actually reflected a message of endorsement in many places on the Facebook ecosystem.