LAURINBURG — Next to everyone has social media in today’s society, but it puts politicians in an odd situation.

In 2017 there was a case in Virginia — Davison v. Loudoun County Board of Supervisors — where the federal court ruled that it is unlawful for elected officials to block any resident from their Facebook accounts because of “viewpoint discrimination.”

But the account was a public account made for the elected official to connect with constituents as their elected official. Locally, Laurinburg Mayor Matthew Block has blocked people from his Facebook, causing many to claim he has broken federal law.

However, according to Frayda Bluestein with the UNC School of Government, the laws are still adjusting to social media.

“Courts have struggled with this aspect,” Bluestein said. “This is right in the middle of it and it wouldn’t be a slam dunk case.”

In a post by Bluestein on the School of Government’s website (The First Amendment Keeps the “Social” in Government Social Media), she wrote “First Amendment protections apply only in a government forum. They don’t apply to a private person’s or a private organization’s Facebook page. While this may seem obvious, electronic forums can be difficult to categorize.”

The post also added that, for the Davison v. Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, the social media page’s obvious public and not private and was being used as a “tool of governance.”

Due to the account being used as a “tool for governance,” the liability fell to the board of supervisors — leading the city to potentially have some form of liability.

“It could be a personal liable situation — if it’s argued it’s a personal Facebook page, then it would be the responsibility of the individual,but if it’s in an official capacity then it could fall on the city,” Bluestein said. “But you can’t have it both ways.”

For current members of the Laurinburg City Council, it isn’t an overly concerning topic as it’s in the gray area of laws.

“If there is a liability for the city, then I will be concerned,” said Councilmember James Garby. “I don’t know the statutes but I’m going to look into it now … it’s his personal Facebook page and it’s not up to me to police his account on what he’s doing.”

While Councilmember Mary Evans added that she isn’t worried about it at this time because of it being in the middle ground.

At the end of the post written by Bluestein, she spoke on how public officials need to be explicit about the purposes and rules they intend for their entry into the digital market place rather than leaving it to the courts to define.

“Public officials use social media for both governmental purposes and for political purposes. Many public officials may not recognize the significance of mixing government business and political communication. Indeed, it’s often difficult to distinguish between the two.”

Federal law does say, however, that personal Facebook accounts being used to discuss government business would fall under the scope of the law and residents cannot be blocked.

Calls were not returned by Mary Jo Adams, Curtis Leak or Andrew Williamson.

Katelin Gandee can be reached at 910-5063171 or [email protected].

Katelin Gandee

Laurinburg Exchange