Thurmont votes to restrict all user participation on town Facebook page
Jun. 21—Thurmont's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a measure that will restrict all user participation on the Town of Thurmont Facebook page.
The resolution will officially designate the page as a "social media account intended to disseminate information" which, in accordance with the town's social media policy, will allow the town to restrict all forms of user participation.
All of the town's other social media accounts will be designated as "social media accounts intended to invite discussion" and will continue to allow users to post, comment and participate on posts and discussions.
The resolution initially came up at the previous town meeting, but voting was delayed due to two of the five board members being absent.
At the previous meeting, Mayor John Kinnaird and Commissioner Wes Hamrick expressed their support of the resolution given what they believe to be problematic comments posted on the Town of Thurmont page.
Kinnaird said at this week's meeting that the Town of Thurmont page was never intended to be a public forum. He emphasized his belief that the page should be strictly for informational purposes as residents have other avenues to express their concerns, such as attending town meetings and contacting town officials.
"It's a small percentage of people that do this that end up causing an issue," Kinnaird said. "A lot of people have called me and said they're upset about some of the comments they read on not only my Facebook page, but also the town Facebook page."
Some members of the public voiced their concerns and opposition to the resolution.
Marty Burns, a former town commissioner and former mayor of Thurmont, told the board he disagrees with the argument the page was set up to only disseminate information and not receive feedback.
Burns said he understood the frustration at vulgar comments on the Facebook page, but those comments aren't on the account every day. He went on to suggest that the board enact an ordinance that prohibits any elected official from using their personal social media accounts to disseminate any town information.
He also asked the board how public feedback through letters or speaking at town meetings is any different from social media feedback, as people could use obscenities in any kind of public forum.
"I just don't think it's wise to suppress First Amendment rights and freedom of speech, even if it's detestable," he said. "I just think it restricts too much ... and I just wish you wouldn't do it. I think it's a bad idea."
Town resident Ashley Minso expressed concerns that restricting user participation on the Facebook page would make it less likely for people in younger age demographics to give feedback to the town.
She also suggested other options to address inappropriate comments, such as reporting them rather than restricting them completely.
"I don't want to see you shut down the ability to reach more people and get more people involved," Minso said. "It can be a great thing when it works. When it doesn't, it sucks."
The measure passed with four of five board members voting in favor of it. Commissioner Bill Blakeslee was opposed.
"After hearing some of the comments tonight, I don't know if we're doing the right thing," Blakeslee said.
