Proposal. Ban all Elected officials from Social Media statements

[Miigwech]

They can hold press conferences, put out statements via communication office through the press, hold town halls, contact local news papers, they all have dot gov web pages for constituents to contact them to see what they stand for, vote for .... but the flow of instant unverified BS and misinformation and lies needs to stop. Congress needs to reign in their members use of social media just like you would your child .... WE must reign in the President as well. We need to stop the propaganda.

People believe their President, believe their elected officials .... what if this is the new way that Russia has infected our body politic so we have Americans wanting to kill one another? The daily onslaught of lies from social media companies , just making a buck!!!!!! Reports say that disinformation has dropped 70% or so since trump Twitter account was suspended. BOOM!!!!!!

Now the truth will get out. LEARNING MOMENT

[Autumn]

1. That would be a silly thing to do. There are some politicians posting lies on social media, it's not

the companies fault, the problem is their lies. Maybe we should make it illegal for them to knowingly post lies and conspiracy theories. They should be held to a higher standard.

[Miigwech]

4. OK, not the company's fault ... hummm, puff, puff, cancer

[Autumn]

15. You watch the talking heads on TV you see who gets their message out. Republicans

get to chatter on with their bullshit and Democrats get cut off. Yeah, hummm, puff, puff, Yay! shut down a media that works because some assholes lie.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Hi. Welcome to the United States. You must be new here.

In the United States, even elected officials enjoy First Amendment rights.



Source: https://blog.library.gsu.edu/2012/03/23/secularists-descend-upon-d-c-for-reason-rally/

[Miigwech]

7. So you can yell 'fire' in theater now?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. All you want.*

Last edited Sat Jan 16, 2021, 09:40 PM - Edit history (2)

* As long as you are willing to accept the consequences.

As arguments go, this is the apple of oranges.

If you tried to make your case on Constitutional grounds, you'd be laughed out of "Judge Judy."

[Miigwech]

20. It is a new world my friend

https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/2021/01/13/rep-lauren-boebert-temporarily-suspended-twitter/4144501001/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. This has zilch to do with the First Amendment. NT

[marybourg]

10. Uh oh.

[Hortensis]

11. Yes! We of course do need laws controlling toxic use of

modern communications to poison minds and public discourse though. We also need good daily news sources that don't require reading.

[Autumn]

17. We have that, it's called the talking news shows. Young people don't have time to sit and watch

those shows. They get their news from Twitter and other social media, on their phones.

[Hortensis]

19. No, news with significant informational content, not venal constructs

designed to draw viewerships for advertisers. Try turning on the TV tomorrow morning or afternoon, and newshour evening, and check what's available. What exists at all is deplorably inadequate.

[Autumn]

23. I've seen what available and I won't watch any of it.

[Hortensis]

25. Exactly. These days I'd like to be able to switch channels to the news

during the day for a quick update to make sure Trump hasn't blown something up, but there isn't any real news most of the day, have to get on the web. We don't have computerized radio, so have to turn that on when it's available.

[Phoenix61]

28. An employer has every right to regulate what

you post on an official social media platform. Being an elected official comes with a lot of perks. They seem to have forgotten about the responsibilities.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

29. Give that some thought.

What is an "official social media platform"? Do you mean something that's not a personal Twitter account?

I have another question: who signs the paycheck for elected officials? It wouldn't be the government, would it?

[Phoenix61]

30. Yes, not a personal account.

For elected officials that would be the .gov or Senator/Congress person etc... the one that the person would lose access to when they leave office.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

31. Oh, I see. Similar to franked mail. Yes, that is for official use only.

You can't use franked mail to send out election propaganda. The propaganda would have to go out in the usual bulk mail.

As for "an employer can regulate what you say" on Twitter accounts, ummmm, I have my doubts.

[Phoenix61]

32. Their twitter account. Not your personal one. nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

34. I see. But wouldn't only the corporate flacks have access to that anyway? NT

[Phoenix61]

36. Not sure. I'm not that familiar with twitter.

But it would still apply, corporate flack or peon.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. No. nt

[Lady Freedom Returns]

9. +1! n/t

[sarisataka]

5. We need to repeal the 1st Amendment!!

[Silver1]

6. I think it's a great idea.

Public servants can't use social media to advance their own interests, period. They can use the usual channels -- press releases, media interviews, etc. It's definitely worth exploring so we never have a repeat of the last 4 years.

[Miigwech]

16. Thank you!

We have just had 4 fucking years of trump using social media ... Twitter ... to fucking fire top officials, end American treaties around the world .... should I go on? This shit was allowed, HOW?????????????

[Silver1]

26. There's going to be a public discussion about this very soon.

Everyone knows something must be done, and I can't wait to hear ideas and proposals.

[Captain Zero]

35. what about set your work hours and no personals tweeting during work hours

Like the factory schlub who can't use his phone when he is stamping out widgets.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. They would circumvent any ban

They’d get dedicated tweetweasels to do it for them.

[brooklynite]

13. How?

See: First Amendment.

[obamanut2012]

14. no

[cwydro]

18. The funny thing is it would be a benefit to all of them!

Never happen though.

[Wawannabe]

21. "Like you would a child"

Yeppers

[OrlandoDem2]

24. Sounds nice but what about those who don't abuse social media?

[Initech]

27. Actually better would be to have them ban all personal accounts.

Official accounts only.

[DrToast]

33. And no more of this fancy TV stuff while we're at it

You can only talk when you have the conch from now on!