A spokesperson for Republicans in the Ohio Senate says caucus members have unblocked people on their official social media pages as part of an effort to avoid further legal action.
As part of a, state Sen. Joe Uecker recently (R-Miami) admitted no legal wrongdoing but paid $20,000 in fees and damages after blocking a constituent on Facebook. Caucus spokesperson John Fortney says that prompted training sessions, which included telling lawmakers to lift blocks they鈥檇 placed on anyone on their official pages.
鈥淪ocial media is not there for you to win an argument and engage in constant arguments,鈥� Fortney says he told lawmakers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 there to get your point out.鈥�
Forntney replied to interview requests 星空无限传媒 sent to state Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell), who was just elected to his first term. Some members of a Facebook group called contend they鈥檙e still blocked from some of his accounts.
Fortney says lawmakers can still block people from personal pages, but blocked members say it鈥檚 not always clear which page is which.
鈥淚f he asks for constituent feedback through that forum, is it official?鈥� group founder John Yoder wrote in Facebook correspondence with 星空无限传媒. 鈥淥r is he just calling it a campaign page and that allows him to ban constituents from participating?鈥�
Four other group members say they were unblocked from Brenner鈥檚 official and Twitter pages as recently as Tuesday.
Brenner often writes about official Ohio Senate business on what he calls his , where he also provides a link to his official .
