Teachers Awarded Injunction to Halt Facebook Law

The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) just learned it was awarded an injunction to stop a new Missouri social networking law from taking effect Sunday.

"We just found out about two minutes ago. We're wrapping our heads around it, but this is a good resolution at this point," Todd Fuller, MSTA director of communications told Patch.

As , the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) is suing the state over a new Missouri social network law that prevents students and teachers from having conversations that cannot be accessed by school administrators and parents. This also means they cannot be friends on Facebook.

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Senate Bill 54, also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, is sponsored by former Ladue school board member and Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, and designed to protect students.

A main thrust of the bill was the need to make the law more clear about a school district's responsibilities when dealing with teachers accused of sexual misconduct. MSTA opposes the section of the bill that teachers feel will inhibit their ability to communicate with students through social media sites such as Facebook and through text messaging, since it is now a common method of communication.

MSTA filed the lawsuit Aug. 19 and named Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster as the defendants.

The law was set to take effect Sunday, but a judge awarded the injunction that Turner said takes effect immediately and lasts 180 days.

"We're really happy because the judge realized that there is an issue with this particular section of the law," Fuller told Patch. "But the bigger issue is that we don't have to rush to create the language. At this point, we have time to review the issue."

Patch is currently gathering more details. Check back shortly for an update.