Critics slam Highland Council limiting responses to its social media posts as one councillor says it is ‘heavy handed’
Highland Council has restricted the public from commenting on its Facebook posts in a “heavy handed” move labelled “Orwellian” by one councillor and a bid to dodge criticism by another.
Numerous items on its Facebook feed carry the phrase “The Highland Council limited who can comment on this post” – but there appears to be little rhyme or reason prompting the blocks.
The council refused to answer when asked why the decision was taken and whether it might restrict engagement with the democratic process – something the local authority has already been criticised for.
Instead a spokesperson seemed to suggest it was about online clicks: “A decision was made to limit comments on our Facebook page for the present time. We are monitoring any changes in our engagement statistics and performance.”
But the local authority has not blocked responses on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Leader of the opposition in council Alasdair Christie said: “It is regrettable that the administration has taken the decision to suppress comments, one can only surmise that it was down to the volume of comments posted by residents disagreeing with the actions taken by the SNP led-administration”.
Caithness Councillor Matthew Reiss said: “The council’s motto is Ambitious, Sustainable and Connected and this is neither ambitious, nor sustainable nor connected – quite the opposite.
“This heavy handed decision appears to have been taken in private without any consultation and certainly the Highland Alliance group knew nothing about it.
“There are communities in the Highlands – such as Caithness – which already feel disconnected from the council and decision-making and this could make it worse.
“If we knew who had decided this and why, it would be easier to perhaps understand their thinking but, in the absence of any public explanation, the public cannot help but see this as decidedly Orwellian”.
