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Hamtramck council rejects social-media moderation policy after First Amendment, staffing concerns
Summary
Council debated and declined a proposed social-media moderation policy that would allow city staff to hide or remove unrelated or harassing comments while maintaining FOIA archives; the city attorney said the draft was researched for legal risk but members worried about admin authority and workload.
Hamtramck’s City Council discussed a proposed official social-media use and moderation policy at length and ultimately did not approve it.
The policy would have authorized a designated policy administrator to archive comments, hide or remove content deemed unrelated or harassing, and keep FOIA-compliant logs. The city attorney told council the proposal was structured to reduce First Amendment litigation risk and incorporated concessions on FOIA retention and logging. "I researched it thoroughly ... I even made some concessions to FOIA to make sure that you're not deleting stuff that could be FOIA'd in the future and be keeping a log," the city attorney said.
Opponents raised several concerns: who would serve as administrator, whether the city manager or mayor should have appointing authority, the potential workload on communications staff (named staff member Omar was discussed specifically), and the risk of creating perceptions that officials were silencing critics. One council member urged tabling and further discussion; another said the goal was valid but asked for more coordination with staff.
The council split on whether to move forward and ultimately did not approve Resolution 2026-45. Several members said they wanted further drafting that clarifies the administrator role, preserves FOIA obligations, and provides safeguards so that routine staff workloads are not unduly burdened.
What happens next: Council directed the city manager and city attorney to discuss revisions and return with a revised draft that addresses appointment authority, staff capacity and FOIA retention. The revised policy — if presented — will be subject to further council debate and a formal vote.
