Vorys Partner Featured in Cincinnati Business Courier Story Titled “Cincinnati Attorney Explains What SCOTUS Facebook Case Could Mean for Local Businesses”

Whitney Gibson, a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati office and the leader of the firm’s internet defamation practice group, was the focus of a Cincinnati Business Courier story about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case about whether threatening comments posted to Facebook constitute criminal activity. Gibson says the case could have an impact on businesses. 

The story states:

“Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease Cincinnati partner Whitney Gibson told me the Supreme Court must now decide what constitutes a threat – what the person making the statement actually intended, or what a “reasonable person” would gather from the statement.

‘Courts are increasingly dealing with protecting First Amendment speech versus laws that prohibit people from making threats in a digital age,’ Gibson said. ‘It’s not like you can look at a person’s face and pick up nonverbal cues on whether they were joking.’

Gibson said he believes the court should rule that an objective standard should be applied, that the subjectivity of what a person meant when they made an online threat is too murky. The objective standard gives individuals – and businesses – more protection, he said.”

To read the entire story, visit the Business Courier website.