Boone County confirms it blocked man from Facebook, but says it was 'inadvertent'
The barring of a resident from Boone County’s Facebook page — the crux of a recently-filed lawsuit — was an “inadvertent” mistake by an administrator and has been reversed, local government officials said Tuesday.
Boone County Commissioners in a statement said an internal investigation into the blocking of Kevin Dininger from the county’s Facebook page revealed an administrator thought he was using his personal page when the incident occurred. County commissioner spokesman Noah Alatza said that administrator has since been removed from the government's social media account.
“The situation has been rectified,” the statement said. “We have taken steps to ensure this does not happen again and are working on an expeditious resolution of the litigation.”
Boone County earlier this month became the target of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of Dininger, who said he was barred from the local government’s social media page after commenting his intent to vote for a commissioner’s challenger.
The ACLU of Indiana declined to comment on Boone County's announcement, citing the ongoing litigation.
The suit said Dininger posted his support for the candidate as a response to a letter posted by the county’s three commissioners regarding delays to a building project. Dininger, according to the suit, thought the letter was “inappropriate," as it cast blame for delays on the president of the Boone County Council.
The organization called the the subsequent blocking of Dininger from the social media page as “viewpoint-based discrimination,” which violated his First Amendment Rights.
Boone County Commissioners in a statement to IndyStar at the time said they took the allegations seriously.
“The Commissioners are strong proponents of the First Amendment and believe in everyone's right to free speech," the commissioners’ prepared statement said at the time.
Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Boone County: Facebook blocking of resident was 'inadvertent'
