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Council adopts social media policy after public First Amendment objections
Summary
Merriam adopted Council Policy 13.0 on social media by an 8–0 vote after public objections that it could restrict political speech; the city attorney said a limited public forum that restricts comments to topical replies is legally permissible if enforced neutrally.
The City Council voted 8–0 to adopt Council Policy 13.0, the city's first formal social media policy, after a public commenter argued the draft could spur litigation and violate the First Amendment.
Assistant City Administrator Caitlin Gard presented the policy as a means to ensure consistent, transparent management of city-run social accounts. She said the policy treats city pages as public records subject to CORA and establishes content-moderation standards that limit comments to material "specific to the post itself." Gard told the council the policy would not apply to personal accounts of elected officials or staff and that the marketing team had been briefed and would implement the rules if adopted.
A public commenter said the policy was "unconstitutional on its face" and warned it would allow viewpoint discrimination; the commenter referenced federal cases that struck down similar deletions. The City Attorney, Mr. Dink, replied that courts allow a limited public forum and that the city may restrict comments to topical responses so long as policing is content-neutral and consistently applied. "As long as you do the things that I just mentioned, you can create a limited public forum," he said.
After brief council discussion about monitoring procedures and response times, Councilmember Hans moved to adopt the policy and the council approved it unanimously. Staff said the policy will be posted on the city's website and linked in official social channels.
