Legum’s New Line

The Baltimore Sun has contacted several members of the General Assembly about the facebook ban, first reported by Legum’s New Line. It’s not popular:

“I wouldn’t say I’m devastated, but I am, like, seriously bummed out,” said Del. Jolene Ivey, a Prince George’s County Democrat. Ivey said she sometimes used Facebook to communicate with constituents while in Annapolis.

Del. Curt Anderson [pictured at right], a Baltimore Democrat and the unofficial Wikipedia-keeper in the General Assembly, had a more pungent reaction: “It’s a dark day,” Anderson said. “I’ve personally been contacted by half a dozen [lawmakers] wanting to know how to get [Facebook] back.”

Read more on the story at GigaOM, Silicon Alley Insider, and WBAL.

UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun, following up on the New Line’s report this morning, contacted Republicans in Annapolis who claim the General Assembly ban on Facebook is politically motivated. The Sun’s GOP sources claim the Democratic leadership blocked the site because Republicans were using it successfully to organize. From the Sun’s Andrew Green:

I’m hearing rumblings from the GOP that they think there may be more to the story than the threat of viruses. Republicans see the social networking sites as a good way to spread the word about their point of view, often hard to do in a Democrat-dominated legislature, and they think they’re getting shut down because they’re getting too much traction with it. How successful their efforts are, I don’t know, but I can say I’ve gotten friended by a lot more people in the GOP caucus than by Dems.

I’m not convinced. Many Democratic members of the General Assembly make good use of Facebook and will be negatively impacted by the ban.

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