Concern over dayton official social media

Dear editor,

It has come to my attention that one of our elected officials has taken it upon herself to block people from commenting or engaging with her on her official government page. The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise-open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees. This behavior offends the constitution and the principles of transparency.

Shutting down discourse and creating echo chambers of one sided viewpoints does not allow for the breadth of community voices to be heard. In this manner voices are missing from the conversations. How can our elected officials feel secure that they are representing their community and their community’s concerns when they censor voices? Is it a wonder only one side of any issue continues to be heard? Is it a wonder that a handful of extremists think they represent the majority of this community, when we have elected officials interfering with community members’ freedom of speech?

LET’S TALK AND LISTEN-NOT JUDGE

Theresa Eier

Dayton, Wash.