Can a municipal employee or official say anything they would like on Facebook or Twitter about town government, city officials, other citizens, and issues of the day?
Can a city remove derogatory comments from its own Facebook page?
Towns and cities are using social media more often to communicate with citizens, both to provide up-to-the-minute information and to allow citizens to ask questions and give feedback. Just as often, municipal employees and officials have their own social media accounts which they might use to post their own thoughts about municipal government, other citizens, and issues of the day. Social media creates a variety of issues regarding 1st Amendment free speech rights of the public, employees, and officials; protected union activity by employees; legally protected speech of New Hampshire’s public employees; electioneering; and RSA 91-A (the Right to Know Law).
Please join us at one of our 1 1/2 hour regional presentations for a discussion of these issues. Participants will be provided with real-world scenarios to frame these complicated concerns and given useful tools they can use to spot the issues in their own town or city. This is a can’t miss program for any municipal governing body members or managers.
