The ACLU of Georgia is continuing to caution government officials against censoring comments on their social media networks. The group sent its latest warning to Republican State Sen. John Albers after nine Georgians complained they were blocked from posting on his Facebook page.
In recent months, the civil liberties group has also notified nearly a dozen local law enforcement agencies and politicians, including U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. John Lewis, of similar first amendment concerns.
“When a government official creates a Facebook or Twitter page and opens it up for members of the public to comment on, they can’t then go and discriminate against certain people because of viewpoints that they may have,” said Sean Young, legal director at the ACLU of Georgia.
He said official government pages should operate like town halls.
“You can’t have an open town hall and say ‘ok as soon as someone starts talking and getting emotional or saying mean things about me, then we’re going to take your mic away,” Young said.
