Are politicians allowed to “block” their constituents from posting to them on social media?
That’s the question at the heart of a lawsuit filed by a Louisiana abortion rights advocate against a state senator.
Maya Detiege alleges that she was blocked from posting to Sen. Katrina Jackson of Monroe on Twitter, according to a lawsuit filed in Monroe.
“Because as a public official she opened up a public forum, she cannot silence views she does not like from that public forum,” attorney Katie Schwartzmann told WWL-TV in an email.
Jackson’s only public response so far is to say through her legislative assistant that she has yet to see the suit.
Detiege first took issue with Jackson’s support of anti-abortion legislation in Louisiana. Despite Jackson’s status as a Democrat and the Democrat national platform being firmly pro-choice, Jackson was a main sponsor of legislation to make abortion illegal in Louisiana after the Supreme Court’s overturning of federal, nationwide abortion rights.
Detiege alleges that she was blocked by Jackson on social media as a result of taking her to task over those abortion views, and other precedents across the country have stated that politicians are not allowed to silence their constituents on public forums.
“Senator Jackson has no compelling or important interest in blocking users engaged in lawful speech, including Ms. Detiege,” the lawsuit says.
Related
