CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – One day after Montgomery County Government proposed a social media policy for both the community and county employees, it has been pulled from this month’s agenda to ensure the policy doesn’t infringe on First Amendment rights.
County Mayor Wes Golden told Clarksville Now, “There have been a number of questions regarding this resolution, and additional consideration is needed to ensure our intent to protect First Amendment rights is clear. As a result, I am pulling the item from the agenda.”
County commissioner concerns
At Monday’s commission meeting, several commissioners spoke out about concerns they had with the drafted policy due to its language, including Commissioners Joshua Beal and David Shelton, who took issue with the county claiming the right to restrict, block, suspend or terminate one’s access to any official county social media page.
| MORE: County Commission debates social media policy, public access, First Amendment rights
Citing of Supreme Court ruling
Shelton told Clarksville Now that several constituents and people around the community reached out to him following Monday’s meeting to share their concerns.
Shelton said if the county is going to go by the Supreme Court ruling in Lindke v. Freed from 2024, which he described as a test for social media platforms being considered public forums, then the county social media pages are protected by the First Amendment.
“When we are using social media to disseminate official information, on official pages, and there are comment sections there, that is governed by the First Amendment,” Shelton said. “That’s where we have to be very careful about how we implement social media policy about banning and blocking people.”
Shelton said if a community member wants to be critical of government agencies, they have a right to speak up.
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