According to multiple complaints from Congressman Scott Taylor’s constituents, they were blocked or had their comments removed from Taylor’s government-sponsored social media, including his Twitter and Facebook pages, even though their comments didn’t contain any profane, threatening, or discriminatory language. We sent Taylor a letter explaining how his censorship of opposing viewpoints in a limited public forum violates his constituents’ rights to free speech.
We noted that based on the number of followers and activities, Taylor seems to be using his unofficial Facebook and Twitter pages as the main platform to communicate with his constituent, discussing voting decisions, policy, and descriptions/photos of public appearances in his official capacity as a Congressman. It’s also unclear whether the congressman uses governmental resources to maintain his unofficial pages, which would be in violation of the House Ethics Rule.
We asked Taylor to review his social media policy to adhere to his constituents’ First Amendment right to freedom expression—whether on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.
You can read our letter in the attached document below:
