Of course "likes" are protected! They're a form of voting and, in this case, expressing political opinions.
Speech about politics, science and the arts generally enjoys stronger protection under the First Amendment.
Speech about politics, science and the arts generally enjoys stronger protection under the First Amendment.
Further to that, in Facebook you can click the down-arrow next to a post and select "Follow Post". This is the pure subscription act minus the protected speech.
Despite "Like" only subscribing you, Facebook has given that action a connotation of endorsement by naming the action "Like" which suggests agreeableness, enjoyment, or satisfaction.
This is not how I or (citation needed, I know) most people use likes most of the time.The subscription scheme with likes was foisted on users by facebook to enhance their ability to sell themselves as a marketing destination.