Commission: Mayor discriminated against resident by blocking her on Facebook
Commission finds a mayor blocked a resident from his official Facebook page after she reported an illegal dump and asked for it to be included in a municipal clean‑up.
The Commission for Protection against Discrimination concluded that a resident was discriminated against by a mayor in North Macedonia after she expressed a differing view on his official Facebook page.
The woman filed a complaint with the commission on 15 May this year, saying that on 8 May—after leaving a comment under a post about a city-organised clean-up—she was blocked and lost access to information about municipal activities of public interest. The commission notes that it does not publish the identities of complainants or alleged discriminators, but it does make its findings public.
In her comment the resident attached photographs of an illegal dump near her apartment building and asked whether that location could be included in the clean-up. She wrote:
"The clean-up initiative is wonderful. I see it says that several municipalities will be covered. I hope our municipality will be included as well. We have a long-standing problem with garbage in the neighbourhood, which has been reported several times, but the mayor is not responsive. Attached are pictures of today's condition. How can we solve this problem? Could the inspection check this neighbourhood more often because people who move in constantly leave bulky waste on the sidewalks. Also, if the waste is already there, I believe it should be removed by the services. Where should such problems be reported besides to the municipality?"
Commission: blocking was triggered by expression of opinion
According to the complainant, only minutes after she posted the comment she was completely blocked from the mayor's official Facebook page, which prevented her from following the mayor's public notices and other information. The commission requested a response from the mayor, but he did not reply.
The commission found that the blocking amounted to discrimination on the basis of "other conviction" because it was carried out immediately after she expressed her opinion on a matter of public interest. The commission explains that the ground "other conviction" covers protection from adverse treatment due to an individual's personal beliefs, views and opinions, especially when those concern issues of public interest and fall under freedom of expression.
Noting that the mayor uses the Facebook page for regular announcements about his work, decisions and activities of importance to residents, the commission said that by blocking the woman he unjustifiably restricted her access to information of public interest. It emphasised that public office holders who use official communication channels must respect principles of equality, transparency and accountability and may not exclude citizens from public discourse for expressing a different view.
The commission recommended that the mayor immediately restore the woman's access to his Facebook page; it warned that if he fails to do so, a request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings will be filed against him.
Photo: Слободен печат/Слободан Ѓуриќ
