HCPSS Policy 8080 defines Professional Social Media Accounts as those accounts “created by an employee for HCPSS-sanctioned activities.” We have previously responded under the MPIA that the @mjmsuper Twitter account can be considered public, specifically for content and actions which are “created or received by a school system official in connection with the transaction of HCPSS business” as defined in HCPSS Policy 3050: Records Management, and were made or received “by a unit or instrumentality in connection with the transaction of public business” as defined under MPIA GP § 4-101(j). The action of muting by the account manager, however, does not fall within these parameters. Unlike blocking, which prohibits a constituent from interacting in a public forum, muting more narrowly focuses the individual account manager’s personal view of the Twitter feed. As an account managed solely by the user in this case, and not the school system itself, the contents of a muted list under the @mjmsuper account does not fall within the parameters of a public record under the MPIA.
HCPSS MPIA Request #2019-173
Requested Information
I am requesting the list of all users and/or tweets muted by the Superintendent on his Twitter account. Do not "unmute" prior to responding to this MPIA.
Date Received
Status
Complete
Response Notes
*Some request language is summarized to include the requester's specific document requests and legally protected information (such as personally identifiable information of a student) or personal, defamatory and malicious content removed at the discretion of the school system.
**Responses containing legally protected information available only to the person of interest are omitted from the above report.
***Howard County Public Schools reserves the right to remove erroneous or outdated documents from this site.