MORGANTOWN — Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said he doesn’t know exactly why the ACLU of West Virginia is calling him out for blocking people on social media.
The civil rights group issued a release on Wednesday claiming nine elected officials and one police department in the state have been notified that they are in violation of the First Amendment for blocking accounts on Facebook and/or Twitter.
The others include: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey; Delegate John Mandt; Delegate Tom Fast; W.Va. Sen. Mike Azinger; W.Va. Sen. Patricia Rucker; W.Va. Sen. Mark Maynard; Jefferson County Commissioner Patsy Noland; Fayette County School Board member Darrin McGuffin and the Parkersburg Police Department.
Bloom received a letter from the organization on Friday citing “multiple complaints” from constituents who have been blocked on social media.
It appears the same letter was received by everyone on the list. It does not provide any specific details.
The letter explains that the United States Supreme Court has called social media the “modern public square.” It also points to various rulings in which courts have determined that the social media accounts of elected officials constitute a public forum if they post about community events and issues. Further, the letter says an official cannot engage in “viewpoint discrimination” on a personal social media account if that account is used to discuss public matters.
The Dominion Post has reached out to the ACLU of West Virginia for additional information.
“Over the history of my Facebook account since my election as a county commissioner, I have blocked seven names and none within the last 14 months,” Bloom said. “Of the seven, three did not have a Facebook profile or had a forged Facebook profile. Three lived outside of Monongalia County and one, which I blocked 14 months ago, I blocked because of threatening and harassing posts.”
Bloom is active on Facebook, regularly posting to his own page as well as community forums.
“Today I posted about a five-car accident because I heard about it on the radio. Those are the kinds of things that I post. I try to put out information to help the community,” Bloom said. “If there are two goals that I have worked hard to achieve in my years of public service, they are accessibility and transparency, and I intend to keep my commitment to these goals.”
Bloom said he finds the timing of the claims interesting and speculated that he may have been included as a result of his recent public comments questioning how funds were used by the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation — a group formed when the Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited and the National Parks Conservation Association brought a legal challenge to the air quality permit being sought by Longview Power.
As a result of the challenge settlement, Longview funds the operations of the ASF, which then provides grants tailored to specific efforts spelled out in the agreement, including the reduction of greenhouse gases, restoration of streams and fisheries and the promotion of public awareness.
Following public comments last month by a representative of the Sierra Club regarding a planned natural gas and solar expansion by Longview, Bloom said he had questions about how the ASF was using the money.
The ASF has since responded to those comments, as has the Sierra Club.
Bloom, a Democrat, noted that the only other person on the list in a partisan seat who isn’t a Republican is another county commissioner — Jefferson County Commissioner Patsy Noland. That commission has been involved with the community controversy surrounding the construction of a heavy manufacturing plant by Danish company Rockwool.
“Could it be a result of my inquiring about the use of those funds? It’s been more than a year since I’ve blocked anybody, so why all the sudden,” Bloom said. “I guess that’s what I can’t figure out.”
Bloom has two Facebook accounts — Wingsman1 and Vote Bloom. He said the Vote Bloom page is left open and largely unmoderated. He has 4,436 followers on the Wingsman1 account.
