Public Officials, Social Media, Transparency, and the First Amendment
The past few decades have seen the development of technologies that raise challenging new questions about citizens’ rights under open records laws, open meetings laws, and the First Amendment. Several current situations in Missouri may require courts to answer some of these questions. One question has to do with public officials’ use of social media to interact with the public. Ordinarily, if a public official is hosting an event in a public setting, they cannot selectively exclude citizens from attending. …
