Posted on 01/23/2024 9:19:58 AM PST by Twotone
A town in Arizona formed a department to allegedly monitor and control the online speech of its employees, AZ Free News reported Thursday.
The town of Gilbert, located within Phoenix's metropolitan area, created the Office of Digital Government, which some claim is being used to restrict the speech of the town's employees. According to KTVK, the ODG was formed five years ago.
The department, which may be the first of its kind, is committed to "developing forward-thinking policies." It is responsible for "all internal, external and digital communications, public relations, marketing and open data initiatives" for the town, according to its website.
Corinne Murdock with AZ Free News reported that the town spends over $1 million yearly in taxpayer funds to cover the salaries of the department's workers who "control town employees and elected officials' online speech to ensure conformity with a progressive political agenda." The employees' annual salaries range from "well over $60,000" to $200,800, according to the report.
The department monitors online posts from the town's employees, including private social media pages. If an employee posts a political opinion that does not align with the liberal agenda, the department contacts the employee to pressure the employee to remove the post, AZ Free News reported.
A former employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told the news outlet that they left, in part, due to the department's overreach. They noted that all messages posted to social media had to be approved by the ODG.
"It was difficult to get anything accomplished," the former employee told AZ Free News. "Everything was so tightly managed. People on the ground there were upset because they couldn't do anything."
"When I worked there, they were pushing the chiefs of police and fire to be more liberal. Then there's those emails about how excited they were about getting the chief to kneel to BLM," the former worker added.
Austin Vanderheyden with the Goldwater Institute told KTVK, "If they don't like what's being posted, they're going to let you know about it," he said, referring to the ODG.
According to Vanderheyden, 10 to 12 department employees are monitoring the online activity of other town workers.
Gilbert Councilor Jim Torgeson told KTVK that the department confronted him about removing a survey he posted "too early" on his personal Facebook profile.
"Twenty minutes later, I got a call from somebody on staff asking me to take it down and it was on my private Facebook," Torgeson explained.
Vanderheyden called it "a classic example of government overreach."
Gilbert sent the news outlet a statement that read, "The Town of Gilbert is proud of its Emmy award-winning Office of Digital Government and the outstanding work of the ODG team that has resulted in record levels of community engagement and interaction over the years. We recognize that our community relies on us to share information and engagement opportunities in ways that are fully inclusive and we are committed to ensuring that our communications reflect this at all times."
"The Town has been clear that we will not tolerate divisive, offensive or culturally insensitive posts from employees purporting to represent the Town. To ensure this commitment to our public is maintained, the Office of Digital Government is the official source of information and communications to our residents and business owners. There is no further need to address the false claims from anyone, including disgruntled former employees," it added.
There goes more freedom
1. SUE THE PANTS OFF THEM
2. QUIT & SUE THEM FURTHER FOR HARASSMENT
Hilarious.
Gilbert’s gotta be one of the most conservative towns in Arizona.
Looks like the ASU commies found a place for all their useless Poli Sci majors to go suck off the public tit and control the agenda at the same time. Since when does a city department tell the Council what they can and can’t say?
No one really cares...
Tyrants flourish in a vacuum of serf subservience...
After employees quit they should create their own website, podcast etc—maintain contacts with old co-workers on the “inside”—and rip the government to shreds—micromanage their censoring rear ends.
Companies constantly monitor their employees. Governments can do the same. They can always quit. My company dared us to quit every morning we showed up.
bttt
I like Dave Ramsey—except that he has a policy of censoring his employees similar to what is discussed in this town.
Ex-employees of all political stripes—who could agree on almost nothing—banded together to rip him apart for the censorship.
They formed a reddit group /dirtydave.
They air all the dirty laundry using sources from inside the organization—drives Dave nuts.
That is how it is done.
I hate censors—I don’t care who they are.
This is why my social media identities are all anonymous.
Communist “democrazy” sh*t. Trampling the Freedom of Speech with their jack boots. Commies love this crap.
There were many stories about a group of eavesdroppers at the Rock Hill Telephone Company that engaged in bits of blackmail.
My freedom of speech was stifled when I went into the Navy.
This is why VPNs and anonymous handles are important. Sometimes you need to speak truth to power under the guise of “Publius.”
Are ya taking notes, Nikki Hillary? I mean Haley?
Old Joe would be so proud.
Sounds much like Joe’s Glavlit group. Only digital.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Directorate_for_the_Protection_of_State_Secrets_in_the_Press)
Slowly but surly the Deep State is consuming our personal freedoms. I wonder when their minions the Democrats are going to push to give illegals the right to vote and if successful, bye bye 2024 open and honest election.
These employees have so little imagination. There are simple ways to work around this. A perfect example is the Church of Scientology. They tried to police their members by intimidating them from criticizing the church and to toe the line. But the internet had arrived and nearly destroyed Scientology. Critics created their own websites and online groups, where they could hide their identities using aliases. It snowballed into a global movement. The bottom line here is that you have to think like a tyrant in order to understand how to work around them.
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