IP Democracy: Twitter Drama in Congress: Much Ado About Nothing?

A fun tempest in a teapot is brewing in Congress over whether new rules regarding how Members of Congress and their staffs can communicate on the Internet. TechPresident has a great run-down of what it is calling the "Twitter Dome Scandal," but in a nutshell, Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA), Chair of the House's Franking Commission, sent a letter (PDF) proposing changes to regulations that govern official communication. These changes seemingly expand current rules to permit Members (and staff) to post videos on outside web sites such as YouTube so long as they meet certain conditions (not to be used for commercial purposes or prohibited political purposes).

A list of sanctioned websites that meet these criteria will be developed. Somehow, two twittering Congressmen, John Culberson (R-TX) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) interpreted the proposed revisions as "restricting Member content on websites outside the house.gov domain" and an attack on free speech inside Congress.

Culberson says that if the new rule is adopted, "the free flow of information over the Internet between Americans and their representatives will be significantly curtailed." Culberson and Boehner say that if the new rules are adopted, members won't be able to Twitter or post Qik videos or participate in the rich new social networking trend that has revolutionized politics.

In a very colorful statement, Capuano says that these warnings are "laughably inaccurate assertions" being spread for partisan purposes (although I'm mystified as to what partisan issues are at stake here.) The revised rules are aimed solely at video postings and not "blog postings, online chats or any other written form of communication anywhere on the internet. Any assertion to the contrary is a lie."

That hasn't stopped the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes transparency in government, from forming a group called "Let Our Congress Tweet," which of course you can follow on Twitter. The issue is now taking on a life of its own. O'Reilly's Tim O'Brian goes so far as to say that the current rules bar members from tweeting from the floor or making Qik videos.

I'm not exactly sure what's driving this brouhaha, but I would wager a lot of money that there's more than meets the eye. In other words, something else more important is at stake than whether members of Congress can use Twitter. Some behind-the-scenes powerplay perhaps or maybe it's just good old summertime political roughhousing.

I can say that I doubt the Democrats are going to stop any Member of Congress or Senator from blogging, twittering or Qiking. That would mean that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and dozens of other Democratic leaders would be in violation of the new rules. That won't happen -- ever. So, enjoy the good theater of this war of words, but don't expect blogging/twittering/social networking silence from Congress.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 10, 2008 1:51 PM to IP Democracy