Ontario town disables comments on socials amid divisive election campaign

With a municipal election that already looking like the most divisive in memory and with social media pages being created to rage-bait and sow discontent, the Municipality of Clarington has made the decision to temporarily disable comments on its own social media channels.

“Despite ongoing moderation efforts, campaign-related content and links to campaign materials continue to be posted in comment sections across our channels. Monitoring and removing this content has required a growing amount of staff time outside regular business hours,” Clarington CAO Mary-Anne Dempster said. “This places additional pressure on municipal resources and redirects staff time from regular service delivery. For these reasons, Clarington is temporarily disabling comments on its social media channels until the end of the election period.”

Dempster acknowledged that social media is one of the ways residents connect, ask questions and share feedback with council and staff, but it noted the municipality has a “responsibility” to remain non-partisan and ensure that municipal resources are not used for campaigning during an election period.

“The Municipality of Clarington is committed to fostering an informed and engaged community through its communication efforts. Our social channels will remain active and will continue to share important municipal updates, public notices, service information, emergency communications, and links to helpful resources throughout the election period.  Disabling comments is a temporary measure to ensure that our communication channels remain neutral, our policies are applied consistently, public resources are used responsibly, and all candidates are treated fairly throughout the election period.”

Residents can continue to get news, updates and municipal information at www.clarington.net, as well as submitting customer service requests and participating in public engagement opportunities, she added.

“We appreciate residents’ understanding as we work to uphold the principles of fairness, neutrality and good governance throughout the election period.”

Clarington town hall