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After landmark First Amendment ruling, more Loudouners share their stories of social media censoring
After landmark First Amendment ruling, more Loudouners share their stories of social media censoring
Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 by Sydney Kashiwagi, skashiwagi@loudountimes.com
What do a local government contractor, a conservative activist in Sterling, gay rights leaders in Lovettsville, a Purcellville politician and members of a left-leaning political action group have in common? ... All have been blocked from an elected official’s social media account for challenging their policy positions.
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.
....
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.
“When it comes to being criticized and disagreed with and presented with information that might be inconvenient for [politicians], they should not be able to block that from happening in a public forum,” David Weintraub said. “And when they put up an official Facebook page that says, ‘I am the delegate of the 33rd District,’ that's a public forum, it’s not a personal page.”
....
Western Loudoun constituents say they have been blocked by Del. Dave LaRock (R).
....
Contact the writer at skashiwagi@loudountimes.com or on Twitter at @SydneyKashiwagi.
Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 by Sydney Kashiwagi, skashiwagi@loudountimes.com
What do a local government contractor, a conservative activist in Sterling, gay rights leaders in Lovettsville, a Purcellville politician and members of a left-leaning political action group have in common? ... All have been blocked from an elected official’s social media account for challenging their policy positions.
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.
....
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.
“When it comes to being criticized and disagreed with and presented with information that might be inconvenient for [politicians], they should not be able to block that from happening in a public forum,” David Weintraub said. “And when they put up an official Facebook page that says, ‘I am the delegate of the 33rd District,’ that's a public forum, it’s not a personal page.”
....
Western Loudoun constituents say they have been blocked by Del. Dave LaRock (R).
....
Contact the writer at skashiwagi@loudountimes.com or on Twitter at @SydneyKashiwagi.
