The interplay of sports, innovation, constitution and laws.

Due to the advent of technology and the rise of social media platforms, the concept of free speech and
other constitutionally guaranteed rights have evolved through the years. The internet has connected us
in a way that our thoughts and ideas can be seen by people in the world wide web. Our bill of rights affords
protection to the public against governmental interferences and infractions. On the other hand, Art. 32 of
the Civil code protects us from private transgressions. We and the government, however must afford a
delineation between what is a protected speech and what is not so that the government can ensure that
public policy, good morals and customs are protected.

Free speech

Student-Athletes, as students, are also subject to the regulations and policies of the schools/universities.
In the Vivares case, the supreme court stated that educational institutions have the right to discipline
students based from their social media content.

Student-Athletes, in my opinion, requires greater/stricter social media regulations by the schools as

Student-Athletes have more followers than a regular student. Especially for those who are popular and
can be seen on the tri-media. They require greater social media regulation as many fans and followers
look up to the student-athletes as a role models or as idols. Thus, anything that they post on social media
can have an impact on their followers/fans life. Although Philippine jurisprudence has a small amount of
cases regarding this topic, American caselaw is replete with cases regarding this matter. They have the
Tinker and Fraser test and various other cases that deals with students right to free speech.

Equal protection and Due process

Although, students are required to be regulated by schools and the government. Policies should always
adhere to specific guidelines in order to ensure that they do not overstep the boundaries as regards to
crafting policies or guidelines. The policies should always be subject to reasonable standards and should
always have a valid interest to protect.

One of these is the Grade Point Average requirements (GPA). Although it may seem that the said
requirement interferes with a student rights, the requirement only ensures that the student/athlete
should not forget the importance of education over their “extra-curricular” activities. The requirement is
given in order to ensure that the students education will not suffer and thus would constitute as a valid
restriction.