Federal Judge: Gov't Officials Can't Block People From Social Media!
Aug 11, 2017, 5:13 pm
#1
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Federal Judge: Gov't Officials Can't Block People From Social Media!
This may quickly wind up over in Bad Omni, but I decided to first try it here because many of us have been blocked from various TSA-related social media pages because we criticized them or accused them of lying (with supporting evidence in a lot of cases). One of my handles has been blocked by Lisa Farbstein, @TSA and @ASKTSA. For years, many of us have had Propaganda Village posts censored.
I thought everybody would like some good news on a Friday night! I'm also proud to say that this case originated in my home: Loudoun County, VA.
After landmark First Amendment ruling, more Loudouners share stories of social media censorship
Following a federal court ruling last month that said Chairwoman Phyllis (D-At Large) violated Lansdowne resident Brian Davison’s First Amendment rights by blocking him temporarily from her Facebook page, residents from Loudoun and around the country have come forward with more stories about how they were censored from the social media pages of their elected officials.
“For a politician to just say outright you're no longer allowed to post in this public forum that I've created, I think that does definitely cross a boundary,” said conservative activist Rick Canton of Sterling.
Canton says he was blocked from Del. Kathleen Murphy’s (D) Twitter account in 2013 after he challenged her position on gun rights. He also says he was initially blocked from State Sen. Jennifer Wexton’s (D) Twitter account but later reinstated after challenging her on the same issue.
Jonathan and David Weintraub – LGBTQ activists from Lovettsville -- claim they were preemptively blocked from Del. Dave LaRock’s (R) Facebook page before they could even interact with him on the page. They believe LaRock banned them because of their liberal reputation on equal rights issues
Original article:
I'd say it's time to push back against the TSA.
I thought everybody would like some good news on a Friday night! I'm also proud to say that this case originated in my home: Loudoun County, VA.
After landmark First Amendment ruling, more Loudouners share stories of social media censorship
Following a federal court ruling last month that said Chairwoman Phyllis (D-At Large) violated Lansdowne resident Brian Davison’s First Amendment rights by blocking him temporarily from her Facebook page, residents from Loudoun and around the country have come forward with more stories about how they were censored from the social media pages of their elected officials.
“For a politician to just say outright you're no longer allowed to post in this public forum that I've created, I think that does definitely cross a boundary,” said conservative activist Rick Canton of Sterling.
Canton says he was blocked from Del. Kathleen Murphy’s (D) Twitter account in 2013 after he challenged her position on gun rights. He also says he was initially blocked from State Sen. Jennifer Wexton’s (D) Twitter account but later reinstated after challenging her on the same issue.
Jonathan and David Weintraub – LGBTQ activists from Lovettsville -- claim they were preemptively blocked from Del. Dave LaRock’s (R) Facebook page before they could even interact with him on the page. They believe LaRock banned them because of their liberal reputation on equal rights issues
Loudoun County Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) acted “under the color of state law” in maintaining her “Chair Phyllis J. Randall” Facebook page and banning Lansdowne resident Brian Davison from the page overnight, yet Randall violated Davison's First Amendment right under the U.S. and Virginia constitutions in doing so, U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris has ruled in a complex case about free speech in the digital age.
Over the last two years, Davison has filed three separate civil rights lawsuits against the Loudoun Board of Supervisors and Randall, Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman (R) and the Loudoun County School Board for either blocking him from their Facebook pages or deleting critical comments he posted.
Last February, Davison was blocked from Randall’s Facebook page for roughly eight hours overnight after the Lansdowne resident made critical comments of the Loudoun County School Board and members of their family.
Over the last two years, Davison has filed three separate civil rights lawsuits against the Loudoun Board of Supervisors and Randall, Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman (R) and the Loudoun County School Board for either blocking him from their Facebook pages or deleting critical comments he posted.
Last February, Davison was blocked from Randall’s Facebook page for roughly eight hours overnight after the Lansdowne resident made critical comments of the Loudoun County School Board and members of their family.
Aug 11, 2017, 6:43 pm
#2
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Moderator's Note:
Please confine the discussion here to TSA and CBP social media pages.
Thank you,
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Thank you,
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
Aug 11, 2017, 7:01 pm
#3
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<deleted>.
This is some unknown person blocking access to the official social media of an entire government agency. That is simply not appropriate, ever. It's bad enough we don't get answers, but we absolutely should be able to continue to pose our questions and experiences.
This is some unknown person blocking access to the official social media of an entire government agency. That is simply not appropriate, ever. It's bad enough we don't get answers, but we absolutely should be able to continue to pose our questions and experiences.
Last edited by TWA884; Aug 11, 2017 at 10:10 pm Reason: Response to deleted post
Aug 11, 2017, 7:20 pm
#4
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Civil Rights violation complaints to DHS OIG naming TSA's social media members would be in order. Be sure to point out the court case and that these are personal violations which disqualify the employee for continued federal employment.
Aug 12, 2017, 6:58 am
#6
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It's a government communication pipeline. I think the decision would easily apply to all government media outlets.
Aug 13, 2017, 4:52 am
#8
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"Well, that court decision only applies to elected officials' official accounts, not to government agencies' official accounts."
It'll take another federal court case (with years of appeals) to tell them that no, this decision prohibits censorship in all government-operated public fora.
"Well, we're not censoring anybody, we're banning trolls, you know, because they behave abusively and use profanity and they're only there to cause disruption, not to engage in free speech."
Nope, sorry, profanity and verbal abuse ARE protected speech, so banning people from a government-operated public forum infringes on their free speech. Grow thicker skin if what they say hurts your wittle feewings.
"Well, we have to conduct an internal investigation to determine the proper way to eliminate the prohibited practices. We've determined that a thorough examination of the current situation will require a 12-18 month review period, after which a report will be generated and reviewed for another 6-8 months, with recommendations for implementing corrective action agency-wide expected 3-6 months after the report is issued, capped off with a 6-month gradual phase-in of the recommended new policies and procedures before said policies and procedures can be fully integrated into the agency's Standard Operating Procedure."
So, it will take somewhere between 27 and 38 months to issue a memo that says, "Don't ban people from TSA social media accounts, feeds, blogs, or web pages. Don't alter anything posted to same." Yup, seems like typical TSA.