Kamloops City Hall (CFJC)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Shutting down City’s Facebook comments is the wrong move

Jun 18, 2022 | 7:08 AM

HERE WE GO AGAIN with Internet incivility. This time, the City of Kamloops has banned commenters from its Facebook page.

I think it’s the wrong move, but let’s look at the reasons. On Wednesday, the City posted anotice stating comments would be disabled due to “a decline in civility.” This incivility, according to the City, “affects many things, including our staff’s mental health, job seekers’ perception of Kamloops, the spread of misinformation, and participation levels from those respectful users who are interested in understanding information about our programs and services.”

There’s truth in that statement. Words can hurt. When commenters get overzealous, they can over-reach. They forget to stick to the issues. When you go into politics, you’d better have a thick skin, or grow one quickly. In this Internet age, it’s more necessary than ever before. You learn to roll with it.

And when you work for a public organization, you’ll need to do the same. Public servants are disrespected almost as much as politicians. It’s hard, though, for Joe and Josephine Lunchbucket, going to work for a paycheque, doing their best to do a good job, to accept or even understand being trolled.

There’s a distinction between legitimate criticism and trolling. Nothing at all wrong with criticizing. Public institutions, those that make policy decisions and spend our tax money, are fair game for being challenged. Their feet should constantly be held to the fire. Their actions are good or bad, depending on our personal perspectives. Either way, we have a right to question them, and modern technology gives us the means. Informed debate is a healthy part of our democracy.

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Venting is good, but lines get crossed. When dissent turns into name-calling and false accusations, even libel, it’s time to re-assess. Media struggle with it as much as political bodies. The Victoria Times Colonist cancelled comments on its website years ago. “Moderating all of the comments, and keeping the discourse respectful, takes a huge amount of time and effort,” publisher Dave Obee wrote in announcing the ban.

He quoted Rick Mercer, who said comment sections once held great promise. “No more,” Mercer said. “The only promise now is that if you read the comments, you will despair for society.”

Interestingly, though, Obee declined to cut off comments on Facebook, saying social media, rather than websites, are the place for discourse. That’s the opposite of what the City is now doing.

Some media, like the Vancouver Sun, are trying new commenting platforms that make it easier to control inappropriate comments. Anonymity and fake names aren’t allowed. Guidelines are put in place that automatically disable comments on certain posts. It gives them a way of fully moderating comments so that personal attacks and comments that add nothing to the discussion are removed. Commenters can police one another by flagging offensive content. “Minor” violations such as personal attacks and off-topic comments can bring suspensions to the commenter, who is notified whether he or she is banned for an hour or a day or several days.

Hate speech, libel, incitement to violence, and threats are classified as “major” violations and will bring permanent bans.

Moderating Facebook pages has always been a challenge. Unlike on blogs, Facebook comments appear publicly before they’re moderated. You can delete specific comments, block individual commenters, or disable comments entirely but a close watch is needed.

Despite the difficulties with trying to keep comments respectful, the City has made a mistake by cutting them off completely. It goes against its avowed objective of enhancing transparency and public discourse. Instead of shutting down comments, it could have done some other things similar to what the major media are doing.

First of all, it needed a clear, stated policy on what’s acceptable in comments and what’s not. For example, no foul language and no personal insults. No false accusations or statements, or threats. Delete what’s inappropriate and provide warnings; as a last resort, block individual commenters.

The City has made great strides in engaging with the public. It has a robust communications department. Its website is a good place to find out what the City is doing, and the Let’s Talk page invites the public to “join the conversation” on specific projects. There are more open houses and information sessions on various projects than ever.

But cutting off the conversation on Facebook leaves a hole in its engagement mission. I would contend that the City has a special duty to keep all lines of communication open. Facebook is a highly effective vehicle for taking the pulse of the community. Mixed in with the disrespectful or erroneous feedback there’s usually a lot of valuable input. Blocking comments entirely will make the City’s Facebook page less controversial but also less useful.

And it won’t stop the criticisms. Several local watchdog Facebook pages focus on civic politics and issues, providing forums for dissent and discontent from various perspectives. They provide a valuable sounding board, and will continue to challenge the status quo. I’ve not seen any personal threats there, and administrators regularly remind commenters to be civil. They will continue; the difference is that by blocking all comments on its own page the City loses a direct two-way connection with those it serves.

Looking for ways to keep the dialogue going would have been a much better approach than locking the doors and turning off the lights.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.