DENVER – ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court May 13 against Colorado State Senator Ray Scott for blocking constituent Anne 乡下人 from his official 脸谱网 和 推特 pages.
乡下人, a resident of Colorado Senate District 7 in Gr和 Junction, speaks out regularly on public policy issues 和 writes about Colorado politics on her 博客. She also uses social media to interact with fellow constituents 和 elected officials. 乡下人 had been able to interact with Scott 和 others in these spaces until June 2017, when she wrote an article critical of Scott’s position regarding climate change 和 posted it on his official 脸谱网 page. In response, Scott blocked 乡下人 from his 脸谱网 page 和 official 推特 account.
“森. Scott censored me for being a critical constituent. 然而,, he’s allowed his like-minded followers to ridicule me on his page 和 retain their right to speak freely,” 乡下人 said. “This doesn’t feel like democracy. This feels like hypocrisy 和 punishment for having a different point of view.”
The complaint alleges that Scott violated 乡下人’s First Amendment rights by blocking 和 banning her from the interactive portions of his official 脸谱网 page 和 推特 account.
Two years ago in Packingham v. North Carolina, the Supreme Court observed that the internet, 和 social media in particular, have become the most important places for the exchange of views. 的官员 肯塔基州, 缅因州 和 马里兰 are currently facing lawsuits filed by ACLU on behalf of constituents who were blocked on social media. In January, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals 统治 in favor of a citizen who had been blocked on social media by a government official.
去年5月, President Trump’s 实践 of blocking critics on 推特 was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in Manhattan. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments 和 is expected to affirm that ruling. ACLU is seeking a judicial ruling in 乡下人’s case that Scott’s blocking violates the First Amendment 和 an order to unblock.
“Social media platforms are the new town halls,” said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director, Mark Silverstein. “Just as we would not tolerate a government agency kicking a concerned citizen out of a public hearing because they disagree with an elected official, the same rules apply on the internet. When an elected official or government agency is using social media to communicate with the public, the government cannot pick 和 choose who gets to see or comment on that information.”
Scott has refused 乡下人’s many requests for him to “unblock” 和 “unban” her. 结果是, 乡下人 has been unable to participate in representative government 和 the public discussions that take place regularly on his official 脸谱网 page 和 推特 account.
“Censorship based on the speaker’s viewpoint is strictly forbidden by the First Amendment,” said ACLU 工作人员 Attorney, 萨拉·奈尔. “We’re filing suit not only to hold Sen. Scott accountable but also to educate other watchful citizens like Ms. 乡下人 that they have the right to be critical of elected officials in whatever venue the government interacts with the public, including on social media.”
In addition to Silverstein 和 Neel, the ACLU team includes ACLU cooperating attorneys Ashley I. 基辛格J. Matthew Thornton, 和 Mark D. 野生的小., of Ballard Spahr LLP.