San Benito County and the First Amendment Coalition reached a settlement in a case involving a social media page that posted content that was allegedly threatening toward local officials and their families.
Under the settlement, which was announced Dec. 5, the county agreed to withdraw a subpoena it had issued to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and to refrain from other efforts to identify the owners of the page known as “Benito Beet Beat.”
The subpoena sought to identify and obtain other information about the Facebook users who publish Benito Beet Beat after they posted a Nov. 3 cartoon that county officials said included criminal threats.
The owners of Benito Beet Beat, preferring to remain anonymous, sued the county to prevent Meta from revealing their identities. Represented by the nonprofit First Amendment Coalition, the Facebook subscribers file the federal lawsuit in the California Northern District Court.
In an emergency hearing the day before Thanksgiving, Judge Virginia DeMarchi issued a temporary restraining order requiring the county to withdraw the subpoena until a more in-depth hearing could take place.
As of Dec. 5, the county and FAC had settled the lawsuit. Under the settlement, the county withdrew the subpoena and is prohibited from taking any other actions attempting to identify the Benito Beet Beat authors, according to Suzanne Ito of the FAC.
DeMarchi issued and signed an order detailing the settlement and permanent injunction on Dec. 5.
Legal Director David Loy of the FAC, the lead attorney representing Benito Beet Beat, had argued that the social media users have an established right to speak anonymously under the First Amendment. A subpoena seeking to identify them could endanger that right, and result in potentially damaging attention toward the Facebook subscribers.
Loy said there are at least two authors of Benito Beet Beat represented in the lawsuit.
The Nov. 3 post depicted cartoon images of people—some ostensibly resembling county officials—gathered below a sign that read “BEHAVIORAL HEALTH.” A caption at the top of the cartoon said, “Supervisors make a surprise visit to behavioral health and find a surprise…”
Each of the characters in the cartoon displayed a thought or speech bubble, one of which referred to possible violence toward county officials and their families.
Loy and the FAC wrote in court filings and statements to the media that the cartoon “satirizes risks to the County’s behavioral health clinic staff due to potential cuts to security. It depicts an imaginary situation in which a staff member said ‘We’re in danger! Call security now!’ because a person in mental distress seeking help said, ‘Voices are telling me I need to hurt a supervisor or his kids!’ while another staff member thought, ‘We cut security because Velazquez told us to do it,’ referring to county supervisor Ignacio Velazquez.”
The post was removed shortly after it was called out in a public meeting as a potential criminal threat. Benito Beet Beat also posted an apology statement on Nov. 4, the same day the board of supervisors announced the sheriff’s office had begun a criminal investigation.
The board on Nov. 18 had unanimously approved the filing of a subpoena to Meta, seeking to identify the creators of the allegedly threatening cartoon so that the county can continue its investigation.
Benito Beet Beat’s authors describe the page as “satirical.” Its content consists primarily of cartoons depicting dramatic interpretations of local politics and events in Hollister and San Benito County. The cartoons frequently include characters that resemble local officials.
