Kansas City Social Media Question: Mayor Q Unfairly Blocks Critics?!?

A quick peek at Mayor Q's social media page will reveal thousands of adoring fans and a great deal of support for his agenda. 

However . . . 

Social media critics including conservatives, neighborhood leaders & veterans claim that Mayor Q has silenced their voices. 

To be fair . . . 

TKC has noted several policy disputes with the current administration but so far we haven't been blocked. For the most part we do our best NOT to make things personal and we TRY not to repeat complaints on every thread the Mayor posts . . . We'll tag Mayor Q when we think it's relevant but sometimes we don't bother. Through the course of his term Mayor Q has issued important corrections and updates to TKC and we do our best to accept & re-post those notes for the benefit of readers and the local discourse.

In our experience Mayor Q more accessible via social media than most local politicos but he's more likely to engage with tough questions from supporters than outright detractors.

All that being noted . . . 

Here's more intense rebuke from a political opponent of Mayor Q who has even attended a few of the Mayor's live events to voice concerns . . .

"Quinton Lucas has effectively shut down any direct criticism of him in the public space."

That's harsh but we find that many people agree with this sentiment. 

So we're putting this question out there . . .

DO YOU THINK MAYOR Q UNFAIRLY SILENCES LOCAL CRITICISM?!?!

More context . . .

Even the most diehard Mayor Q supporters are hard pressed to justify his lack of any debate during the last Mayoral election . . . Whilst the opposing candidate wasn't serious and didn't have a chance of winning . . . Political debates remain a vital service to the electorate . . .Then again . . . Prez Trump has also opted out of debates with GOP colleagues so far in his current campaign. 

Finally . . . 

We'll leave it to readers to figure out if Mayor Q's tactics are unfair . . . For the moment, there still isn't much solid legal guidance on the issue . . .

Here's big picture perceptive whilst we continue to wait for any SCOTUS ruling . . . 

"The cases come to the court as officials across all levels of government have looked to social media as a primary means of communicating with their constituents and sharing information with the public. But "the line between official and personal social media pages is often blurry, especially when a candidate continues to use the same social media account before and after they are elected to office," said Kristi Nickodem, a professor at the University of North Carolina.

" 'It's challenging for courts dealing with these cases to draw lines that provide robust protection for free speech and access to information, while also clearly defining how public officials may adequately separate their official and personal actions on social media,' she said.

"These disputes, though, present the Supreme Court with an opportunity to resolve the split between the federal appeals courts over how to look at the issue of when a public official's activity on social media constitutes state action."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Supreme Court grapples with fights over public officials blocking constituents on social media

The cases were the first of several the justices will hear this term that test how the First Amendment's free speech protections apply in the age of social media.