ACLU blasts congressman for blocking critics' Facebook posts
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia says a Virginia Beach Republican congressman may have violated his critics' free-speech rights when he blocked their comments on his personal Facebook page.
The Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/2nepAC2 ) reports that residents recently complained to the ACLU about their comments being removed from Rep. Scott Taylor's self-described unofficial page.
The state's ACLU Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastanaga says Taylor's personal page can be viewed as a protected "limited public forum" that constituents use to reach their congressional representative.
Taylor told the newspaper that the ACLU of Virginia does the same thing on its Facebook page. He also says opponents can reach him via his congressional Facebook page, which is a separate Facebook page, or through other forms of communication.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com
