Annapolis, Md (WUSA9) — Ever block someone from your Facebook page? Well, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan did and got in hot water for it.
On Monday, the state settled a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union for $65,000. The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of four residents but they say several hundred people have been blocked for expressing an opinion on the Facebook page that opposed or challenged the governor’s.
Hogan has 14 days to implement a new social media policy that says comments cannot be deleted or Facebook followers blocked for simply disagreeing with an elected official.
The governor’s spokesperson said despite the settlement, the lawsuit was politically motivated and “frivolous.”
“Free speech is not frivolous,” said Meredith Curtis Goode with Americans with Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. “They were not engaged in any vulgar conversation or racist speech. They were just trying to use an avenue to communicate with their governor that the governor had set up to communicate with constituents.”
This is not the first time, a public official has been called out for bad behavior on social media. In February, DC Police Chief Peter Newsham reportedly blocked activists from his twitter account.
He told our partners at the Washington Post the comments were “cruel and nasty.” The Post reports Mayor Muriel Bowser quickly stepped in reminding city officials of a policy that prohibits blocking or deleting social media followers.
Curtis-Goode said the Maryland case draws a clear line in the sand.
“It creates a strong model of social media policy that other elected officials around the country and Maryland can use when they want to engage with their constituents on social media," she said.
The new policy still allows for someone to delete or block a user for things like vulgar, offensive or threatening language.
Read the original complaint here.
