On May 11th the Senate State Affairs Committee met. One interim charge, among others, reviewed was Charge 13: Study the Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act to ensure that government continues to operate in a way that is open and transparent. The study should consider how advances in technology and the emergence of various forms of social media (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) have affected communications by and within governmental bodies.

 

Individuals from the Texas Municipal League testified on the legal pitfalls of social media Web sites when used by mayors and city council members. Peter Vogel, a communication lawyer and professor at Southern Methodist University’s law school, suggested that establishing social media policies for government employees and state agencies would provide uniformity and help iron out the wrinkles when employees post on blogs, Facebook or Twitter on their own time.

 

“This is not black and white, and if you don’t particularly tell them, they might have no clue what to do,” he told committee members.