Aussie Public Servant Criticises Gov't On Twitter, Gets Sacked

An anonymous reader writes "An Australian public servant who criticised the government on Twitter has been sacked even though she did not reveal her name or her job to her readers. Federal Judge Warwick Neville told her Australians had no 'unfettered implied right (or freedom) of political expression.' Unlike Americans, Australians have only limited rights to Free Speech. The new ruling makes means public servants cannot criticize the government on social media, even privately and in their own time."

Comments

Free speech and beard

[smittyoneeach]

Free speech and beard
Both must be feared
The will of the few
Owns what you do
Burma Shave

Crikey!

[Kagato]

A Dingo ate my freedom!

Re:Sacking...

[Trepidity]

That particular example is specific to the military, though; soldiers have never been considered to have the same freedoms as civilians, even in the early years of the US.

Civilian government employees do have some degree of free-speech protection. The main caveat is that any employer (including a private-sector employer) can fire employees for speech criticizing the employer, in some cases, and that is also true when the government is acting in its role as an employer. However the government is somewhat more limited than a private-sector employer in how it uses this power.

Re:Americans have limited Free Speech

[Hatta]

Also, gag orders. Just last week someone shut down their encrypted email service and was not able to talk about what happened for legal reasons. That's a blatant violation of his first amendment rights.