Government officials throughout Florida inadvertently might be breaking state public-data legal guidelines by merely utilizing their social-media accounts, a USA TODAY Network investigation discovered.
Tweeting about government enterprise and posting to Facebook or Instagram — utilizing both official or private accounts, no matter having a disclaimer — with out maintaining a document of the postings violates Florida’s open-data legal guidelines, legal specialists say. So is deleting posts with out archiving copies.
Even so, there are extra delicate methods officials might unknowingly break the law, and even violate constituents’ First Amendment rights, the investigation discovered.
Responding on social media to feedback or questions on government enterprise or a problem earlier than a government physique, with out archiving the interplay, is a means an elected official can violate the law, defined Ryan Butler, an assistant state lawyer for the 19th Judicial Circuit, which serves Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.
Calling a Facebook web page “personal” makes no distinction, he stated.
“A disclaimer will not exempt anything from public-records disclosure,” Butler stated. “It’s not the disclaimer that counts. It’s the content of the communication.”
Let’s say a resident tweets or responds to a remark on a government or elected official’s social-media web page, however later deletes that publish. If the official hasn’t captured or saved that remark, it is thought-about a destruction of public data, but one other violation, Butler stated.
To keep away from breaking Florida’s in depth legal guidelines on sustaining public data, some governments use software program particularly designed for retaining data on social-media platforms.These packages seize feedback and posts instantly and constantly protect content material, in response to their web sites.
Governments throughout Florida — corresponding to Tallahassee, Fort Myers, Port St. Lucie and Escambia, Brevard, St. Lucie and Martin counties — have social-media insurance policies requiring them to archive data on official government social-media websites, officials stated. Indian River County routinely downloads knowledge from social-media pages and takes display photographs of inappropriate feedback earlier than deleting them, officials there stated. The metropolis of Naples is creating a social-media coverage together with a Facebook web page, City Manager Bill Moss stated.
But in lots of instances, elected officials not sure by a metropolis or county social-media coverage are left to take care of their very own data.
Brevard County Commissioner Jim Barfield initially stated in an interview that he removes derogatory feedback made by third events with out saving copies. Later in the interview, nevertheless, he defined that “Even if I delete something, I’m pretty sure that is archived.” He added, “I’ve never really had to delete (a comment).”
With social media making it more and more troublesome for government officials to adjust to open-data legal guidelines and the Sunshine Law, which prohibits elected officials from discussing public enterprise outdoors of a public assembly, Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson permits his employees to function and keep data derived from his social media accounts, he stated. Escambia County’s social-media coverage prohibits elected officials from operating their very own accounts due to fears of violating the Sunshine Law, Robinson stated.
“It’s a fine line between being able to communicate effectively with the public in a way that does not put us in discussion with the Sunshine Law, which may not, in its application, always be up with the latest technology,” Robinson stated.
It’s additionally as much as elected officials to find out what sort of feedback made by others are inappropriate or defamatory. Blocking a constituent from a web page run by an elected official might be a violation of that individual’s First Amendment rights, stated Barbara Peterson, president of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida.
“If a public official or a city, a governmental agency, creates a Facebook page, everybody’s got to be their ‘friend,'” Peterson stated. “It’s sort of like creating a public forum and then saying, ‘But we don’t want you to participate.'”
Local politicians in Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County stated they’ve needed to block customers from their social-media pages.
St. Lucie County Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky stated he is blocked a consumer for utilizing profane language. Port St. Lucie Mayor Greg Oravec additionally has blocked a consumer, he stated.
“I have had to ban (a user) because after more than one warning, he thought it was OK to continue personal attacks,” Oravec stated.
While blocking a consumer — and primarily limiting his or her free speech — isn’t a criminal offense, it might result in litigation, Butler stated.
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