Are employers entitled to restrict their employees’ private expression of opinions online or elsewhere? Charles Pigott examines freedom of speech & workplace censorship
- Gary Lineker’s dispute with the BBC over comments on his personal twitter account raises broader questions about freedom of speech in an employment context.
Most clashes between employers and workers over the use of private social media accounts—at least those that have reached the courts—have concerned comments which either clearly bring the employer into disrepute, or which interfere with the rights of others. What was unusual about the Gary Lineker affair was that he had sought to take part, in a private capacity, in a debate on a matter of considerable public interest—the government’s immigration policy (see ‘The BBC: under (political) pressure?’, NLJ, 7 & 14 April 2023, pp15-16).
Most (though not all) employers don’t have to demonstrate neutrality like the BBC, but will often take a public stance on certain issues of political controversy which they won’t want undermined by the
