Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

The ACLU of Kentucky is suing Gov. Bevin over his social media policy. They're angry that Gov. Bevin has blocked users from his news feeds. ACLU attorney William Sharp said, “The First Amendment does not allow the government to exclude speakers from a public forum because it disagrees with their viewpoint.” This of course raises the question of whether a politician's social media feed is a public forum. About 600 people have been block from the Governor's Twitter and Facebook accounts. The reason is because of vulgar language or harassing and abusive behavior. Citizens have a right to participate in public forums, but everyone should realize that abusive behavior online is no different than abusive behavior in a public meeting, which will get you escorted out of the room.