STEPHEN RICCIO
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC Sept. 18, 2020
A Facebook account under a pseudonym was recently banned from accessing the Municipality of Pontiac’s (MoP) content on the platform after behaving in a way that the municipality has described as bullying.
Assistant Director General Geneviève Latulippe explained to THE EQUITY. . .
that the account’s user had posted a public online survey to ask for the resignation of an employee.
“We thought that this is not constructive and undermined [the] integrity and credibility of our employee,” she said.
Latulippe said the municipality wants the public to know that they value open discussion, but that these circumstances required action.
“[We] know that freedom of expression is a fundamental right that must not be curtailed, but when it comes to attacks on our employees, there is an expression: ‘One person’s freedom stops when another person’s freedom is curtailed.’”
Latulippe said that the MoP’s action against this type of bullying was to block the user in question.
The municipality put out a public notice on Sept. 18 advising residents to refrain from similar behavior and labelled the account’s attacks as unfounded.
The notice also pointed to a list of guidelines, which can be found on the MoP website, that provides direction on the use of social media to promote beneficial exchanges online.
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