Should Elected Officials Use Blogs and Web 2.0 Sites?
As I have previously noted, a little while back I asked Tim Ford, the AG's Open Government Ombudsman, about some of the legal issues related to the use of blogs and Web 2.0 sites.
Here is his email response (my questions are in black, his responses in red). Essentially, Ford states that the content is the public record, not the "look and feel" version that actually would appear on the Web 2.0 site. This addresses my biggest concern.
And here is Russell Wood's response to the retention issues. Again, Wood states that it is the content that is subject to retention (this is an edited version of the email).
The one remaining open issue is whether an elected official's personal blog becomes a public record if the official discussions agency business. Agencies also have to use extreme caution if they accept comments to ensure that comments are not edited or removed in a way that would violate the First Amendment. A clear policy is essential for this purpose.
Here is Olympian reporter Brad Shannon's blog post on the topic.
Here are my earlier posts on the topic:
"To Blog or Not to Blog -- that is the question"
"Lauderdale city attorney tells politicians: Stay off Facebook"
