Must Read Alaska has long been blocked by Alaska Sen. Forrest Dunbar from his social media feed on X. Dunbar may be a reader of the publication, but is clearly not a fan.
But now, others are saying they are being blocked by him, as well. This person, for instance:
The matter of legislators blocking members of the public from the accounts associated with their official duties is still being litigated, ever since lawyers with the Northern Justice Project filed a lawsuit against former Sen. Lora Reinbold, who is till fighting it in court.
Last year, a judge ruled state legislators cannot block members of the public from commenting on the social media accounts maintained in connection with their elected offices.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews said such accounts are considered public forums, where legislators can’t discriminate against a participant based on their positions on topics.
In a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, “Lindke v. Freed,” the justices ruled that a public official can only be considered to be engaging in “state action” (actions that can be subject to First Amendment scrutiny) on social media if they have actual authority to speak on behalf of the government and are clearly exercising that authority when posting on their personal social media accounts; essentially, this means a public official can block users on their personal social media pages unless they are explicitly using the platform to communicate official government information, not just personal opinions.
The Alaska Legislative Council, the body that governs the Legislature when it is not in formal session and that handles other legislative business, will meet at 9 a.m. on Dec. 12 in the Anchorage Legislative Information Office; legislator social media policies are said to be on the agenda, which has not yet been posted.
It’s unclear how that relates to blocking people altogether from an official account, but the matter will be before Alaska legislators next month.
