10 LINDKE v. FREED Opinion of the Court He insists that Freed’s social-media activity constitutes state action because Freed’s Facebook page looks and functions like an outlet for city updates and citizen concerns. But Freed’s conduct is not attributable to the State unless he was “possessed of state authority” to post city updates and register citizen concerns. Griffin, 378 U. S., at 135. If the State did not entrust Freed with these responsibilities, it cannot “fairly be blamed” for the way he discharged them. Lugar, 457 U. S., at 936. Lindke imagines that Freed can conjure the power of the State through his own efforts. Yet the presence of state authority must be real, not a mirage. Importantly, Lindke must show more than that Freed had some authority to communicate with residents on behalf of Port Huron. The alleged censorship must be connected to speech on a matter within Freed’s bailiwick. For example, imagine that Freed posted a list of local restaurants with health-code violations and deleted snarky comments made by other users. If public health is not within the portfolio of the city manager, then neither the post nor the deletions would be traceable to Freed’s state authority—because he had none. For state action to exist, the State must be “responsible for the specific conduct of which the plaintiff complains.” Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U. S. 991, 1004 (1982) (emphasis deleted). There must be a tie between the official’s authority and “the gravamen of the plaintiff ’s complaint.” Id., at 1003. To be clear, the “[m]isuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law,” constitutes state action. Classic, 313 U. S., at 326 (emphasis added); see also, e.g., Screws, 325 U. S., at 110 (plurality opinion) (state action where “the power which [state officers] were authorized to exercise was misused”). While the state-action doctrine requires that the State have granted an official the type of authority that he used to violate rights—e.g., the power to arrest—it encompasses cases where his “particular action”—e.g., an arrest made with excessive force—violated state or federal law. Griffin,