Governors and Federal Agencies are Blocking People From Their Social Media Accounts

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As Facebook and Twitter become integral parts of our political and civic lives, it becomes troubling when political officials start blocking visitors from their pages.

Politicians and government agencies across the United States use social media to communicate with and hear from their constituents. Not only that, but social media is sometimes the only way a person may have to contact their representative and make their opinions known.

With this in mind, is it possible that governmental blocking of users presents a First Amendment problem? Even if it doesn’t, it certainly can create an inaccurate image of support for government policies.

Independent investigative journalism organization ProPublica recently filed public records requests with every governor and 22 federal agencies for lists of people blocked on their official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The responses they had received as of December 8, 2017, indicate that governors and agencies are across the country are blocking at least 1,298 accounts. More than half of those are being blocked by Kentucky Republican Governor Matt Bevin. However, they add, many of the government agencies and more than half of the governors’ offices haven’t responded to ProPublica’s request.

ProPublica then asked readers for their own examples of being blocked by their elected officials. The governors’ offices in Alaska, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, and New Jersey did not respond to the organization’s requests, but residents of those states reported that they had been blocked.

Most of the federal agencies that responded say they are blocking accounts, but the number of blocked users for those agencies’ social accounts is pretty small. However, many governors and agencies either denied ProPublica’s requests or gave only partial information.

But in case you think it’s only Republicans and federal agencies that are blocking accounts, think again: California Governor Jerry Brown had blocked more than 1,500 accounts until June—coincidentally, the unblocking of those accounts took place shortly before the First Amendment Coalition had submitted a request for Brown’s social media records.

What do you think? Is blocking social media accounts a First Amendment problem? Does it represent a way for governments to suppress opinions that oppose its agenda? Or is this more of a “tempest in a teapot” that doesn’t deserve the attention given to it? Please share your thoughts in the comments.