Congressmen, Censorship, and Social Media
Congressmen John Culberson (R-Tx) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) are on Twitter, and regularly send updates to Twitter directly from the House floor. Rep. Culberson in particular understands the value of interacting with others via Twitter and Qik, and has engaged me and others in some spirited discussions of issues coming before the House. He’s great at engaging and discussing the issues transparently, even if he is a Republican. 🙂
I view this as a huge leap in political communication. No longer constrained by the “official” responses, these representatives choose to directly speak to anyone who follows them on Twitter, and tell us what’s going on.
Unfortunately, there are some Democrats in Congress who take a dim view of any communication with voters that isn’t “official communication”. This includes video and text communication, evidently. Earlier today this came through Twitter from Rep. Culberson:
I just learned the Dems are trying to censor Congressmen’s ability to use Twitter Qik YouTube Utterz etc – outrageous and I will fight them
Based on the rules set forth in the document below, every communication any House member sent to Culberson would have to be vetted and disclaimed before it could be posted. Obviously that’s not acceptable.
Although I won’t go so far as to call them “Supreme Soviets” as Culberson did in a followup on Twitter, it’s obvious that the folks who drafted these rules have no understanding of what Twitter is, why it matters and why they cannot and should not attempt to squelch communication from elected Representatives to the people who elected them.
At this point I’m assuming that it’s ignorance and not malfeasance. But Culberson is right about this: If we don’t protest this obvious violation of the First Amendment they’ll succeed at silencing someone who is attempting to actually do what he was elected to do — represent the people in his District and communicate with them. The fact that his communication is in real time makes it more meaningful than any vetted and disclaimed statement would be.
I suggest writing Nancy Pelosi and Michael Capuano to let them know that the Congress should not be BANNING social media; it shoudl be embracing it.
Remember, the First Amendment specifically applies to speech in public places. I can’t think of a more public place than the floor of the House of Representatives.
(h/t Technosailor)
UPDATE: The GOP suggestion for added language to allow for Twitter, Friendfeed and other social media sites. Be sure to check Aaron Brazell’s post (Technosailor) for other updates.
- The President Assesses Devastation Caused by his Presidency
- Oballs: The (un)Official Response to Jesse Jackson