Maryland settles with ACLU over deletion of critical comments on governor’s Facebook

Maryland has settled a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over the deletion of critical comments about Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on his Facebook page.

The ACLU and several people who claimed they were blocked or had their comments deleted sued Hogan in August, claiming he was violating their constitutional right to free speech.

The parties settled the lawsuit Monday, with the state agreeing to make a $65,000 payment to the plaintiffs and the governor’s office rewriting its social media policies, The Baltimore Sun reported.

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Hogan’s office will revamp the policies for his Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube accounts, and create an appeals process for people who think they have been unfairly blocked or had their comments wrongfully removed.

The ACLU of Maryland celebrated the settlement as a “victory for the free speech rights of constituents.” 

However, Hogan’s spokeswoman pushed back against that description of the settlement, characterizing it instead as the ACLU deciding “to drop this frivolous and politically motivated lawsuit and reach a settlement with the state,” according to the Sun.

“Ultimately, it was much better for Maryland taxpayers to resolve this than to continue wasting everyone’s time and resources in court,” the spokeswoman said.

The governor’s office had deleted Facebook comments demanding that Hogan condemn President Trump’s travel ban on individuals from seven majority-Muslim nations.

The old social media policy stated that “comments may be removed or access may be restricted at any time without prior notice or without providing justification.” The current policy does not include that language, according to the Sun.