Legal Question in Constitutional Law in New York

Re: Online Message Boards

The Constitution of the The United States of America is a limitation on the power of government. In your case, GameFAQ - a private entity can make thier own rules. GameFAQ rules would be govern by the rules applicable to contract law. Therefore, if you don't like what they are doing, then you are free to leave barring that you are not under some contractual obligation.

Re: Online Message Boards

I'll answer the question with the caveat that the following information is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal advice for a specific client.

The short answer is that it is unlikely there is a violation of either one's United States' constitutional rights or state constitutional rights. As you probably remember from your high school civics class, the constitution--both state and federal--guarantee citizens rights but most of those rights typically only protect us against government action. So, unless GameFAQ is a government or, sometimes, a government actor, private companies, like GameFAQ, and other companies/organizations can generally forbid someone from, for example, posting certain types of messages. There are some rights in constitutions that do apply to private entities but based on the information in the question it is likely that no constitutional violation has occured. Note, this does not mean that a company that places restrictions on speech might not be in violation of some other state or federal law or regulation. Such a determination would require legal research and opinion based on more facts. So, since your question focuses on constitutional rights this is the best answer I can give with limited facts. I hope this was helpful.