Comments will be moderated; appeals safeguard added
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
After weeks of public criticism, legal questions and visible hesitation from the dais, Beaufort City Council voted Tuesday night to formalize how comments will be moderated on the city’s official social media pages — approving the policy only after removing disputed language and adding a path for residents to appeal.
The debate revealed a difficult balance: protecting open access to government while acknowledging staff concerns about workload, consistency and liability in an increasingly heated online environment.
City Manager Scott Marshall told council the proposal was designed to bring structure to a situation that has grown harder to manage.
“It clarifies the informational purposes of the city’s social media accounts,” Marshall said. “It establishes reasonable standards for public comments … prohibits obscene, threatening, commercial, spam or disruptive content, and authorizes the city to hide or remove comments that violate the policy in accordance with applicable law.”
Marshall emphasized that the city’s platforms are intended first to distribute information, not serve as ongoing discussion boards.
He said without clearer rules — and the staff time to enforce them consistently — the city risks claims of selective moderation and allowing misinformation or personal attacks to sit directly beneath official announcements.
At the same time, he acknowledged residents want access.
The challenge, Marshall indicated, is maintaining fairness while working within limited resources.
What the policy does
The Social Media Community Comment Policy frames the city’s accounts as informational tools.
Under it, Beaufort may hide or remove comments that include:
• obscene or threatening language
• personal attacks
• discriminatory remarks
• commercial promotions
• repetitive or disruptive posts
• material unrelated to municipal business
The policy states comments do not reflect official city positions and may be subject to public records laws.
Residents can still reach staff by email, phone or direct contact, and may speak during public comment at meetings.
Council acknowledges tension
Even with that explanation, council members said the issue remained uncomfortable.
Council member Josh Scallate said he heard more from constituents about this topic than nearly anything else.
He has repeatedly cautioned against blaming residents for reacting to government decisions.
“I can’t hold or wouldn’t hold the public accountable for something that we did because we don’t like the response,” Scallate said during the January workshop.
Council member Mitch Mitchell earlier described the matter as a classic trade off.
“For every pro, there’s a con,” he said.
Mayor Phil Cromer has also said that comments can serve as an early warning system, sometimes bringing attention to problems the city might otherwise miss.
Scallate pushes for revisions
Before the vote, Scallate said a requirement that comments be “reasonable and relevant” risked opening the door to subjective enforcement.
“I think that leaves a lot of room for subjectivity,” he said. “I don’t think that’s very clear.”
He argued that if the city is going to hide or restrict speech, residents deserve due process.
“This is something that we’re telling people we’re going to limit and restrict,” he said. “So it’s a little bit different.”
Scallate proposed deleting the relevance standard, adding an appeals mechanism and clarifying how hidden comments would be retained under public records laws.
Several colleagues agreed the change would make the policy stronger and more defensible.
Amendment passes, then resolution
Council unanimously approved the amendment. Members then unanimously adopted the policy as revised.
Under the final version, individuals whose comments are hidden or who are limited from posting may submit a written appeal to the city manager or a designee. The city must review the request and respond within a set timeframe.
The resolution also confirms comments will be preserved according to records schedules and made available through lawful Freedom of Information Act requests.
Marshall reiterated that if comment activity continues to grow, the city may eventually need additional personnel dedicated to social media oversight.
January’s warning from residents
Public skepticism first emerged at the Jan. 27 workshop. Beaufort resident Amanda Patel urged officials to view criticism as data, not disruption.
“Public engagement didn’t create those problems,” Patel said. “It exposed them.”
Former ombudsman Peggy Summer told council the city risks losing valuable insight if it shuts down visible conversation.
“You would lose a lot of good informational data,” she said.
What changes now
The city maintains that its pages are not designed to host debates.
Residents will still be able to contact officials directly or speak during meetings.
What council clarified Tuesday is the structure governing which comments stay public — and how residents can challenge decisions when they disagree.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.