WE all like to think we live in a great democracy where freedom of speech is paramount. Social media has given everyone a voice to be heard more widely than ever before.
What amuses me is the indignant response of some people when others block them. If they are blocked by a politician, the outrage goes up a few notches.
Recently, the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) issued a reminder to councillors about their responsibility to moderate comments on their Facebook pages.
This comes after an increase in councillor conduct complaints to the OIA about councillors’ use of social media.
The OIA highlighted that when inappropriate comments are left online, it could leave councillors exposed to breaches of the Code of Conduct or potential legal action.
For those who like to go off about comments being deleted by councillors, it’s important to know the OIA gave strong advice for councillors to swiftly remove offensive or inappropriate comments.
This also extends to blocking repeat offenders and spammers.
The OIA also advised councillors to disable comments when an issue escalates.
Before social media, a popular public forum for an exchange of ideas was the letters page in the local newspaper.
All went through an editorial filter and not every letter submitted was published.
While it’s great to know we live in a democracy, it also comes with certain obligations. One is having a bit of common sense.
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