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Increasingly, government social media accounts have attempted to quell dissent in their comment sections by implementing so-called “off-topic” rules. In real-world settings, like city council or school board meetings, government officials occasionally require public comments to be on a particular topic because of time and space constraints. But those types of restrictions have no place online, where time and space are unlimited. They are particularly problematic when they block comments based on keyword filters, since automated tools fail to appreciate context and nuance.

In PETA v. Tabak, animal activists sued NIH for using keyword filters to automatically block their comments about animal testing on NIH’s Facebook and Instagram pages. On September 15, 2023, FIREand the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief explaining to the D.C. Circuit that online “off topic” rules violate the First Amendment, particularly when they employ automated tools like keyword filters.