Pol: Don't Take Our Twitter Away

There's a little tit-for-tat over Twitter going on on Capitol Hill.

John McCain might not be the most Internet-savvy of his Hill colleagues, but some pols (or, in many cases, their staffers) have taken quite a liking to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a microblogging site many users utilize to tell the world what they're doing at any given time.

But to those tech-savvy Twitterers' (Twitterers'? Tweets'? Twits'?) dismay, some House leaders are trying to regulate a bit what they can post on the congressional Web sites, and where he or she can do it. That may eventually mean social networking sites are off limits.

Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., chairman of the franking committee, is heading up the effort to impose the new guidelines and to prevent congressional members from using public money to communicate on outside sites that contain political or commercial advertisements.

But representatives like John Culberson, R-Texas, are decrying the move, saying it's a free speech issue. Culberson has a long message on his Web site today explaining how he uses Qik, Twitter, Utterz and Ustream to communicate with constituents and others interested in debating issues. He says he personally sends text messages through Twitter on the House floor, soliciting constituents' input on current legislation.Apparently, with a little help from the social media experts and aficionados out there, Culberson is now taking aim at the House rules, saying they must be changed to give Members of Congress "full unfettered access to new media in the same way we are given full unfettered access to old media."

If a newspaper article quoting a politician is going to appear in the same publication as a campaign or commercial ad, he argues, there's no reason that same message can't be on a social networking site with similar ads.

Culberson is circulating a letter to colleagues, saying:

"There is no logical distinction between communications using these old media outlets and communications using new media on the Internet.

"Congress needs as much sunshine as possible and these new media sources can bring our constituents right into the halls of Congress with us."

Capuano claims:

"We are not currently seeking to address anything other than video - not blog postings, online chats or any other written form of communication anywhere on the internet. Any assertion to the contrary is a lie."

But Culberson says Capuano "confirmed personally to me that I was correct that after the rules regulated our access to video websites like YouTube and [video-streaming site] Qik, the Franking Committee was next going to look at regulating text posts on blogs, Twitter, et al."

Capuano also says:

"Apparently the Republicans spreading these lies would rather operate without rules and open the House to commercialism. Maybe they don't care if an official video appears next to a political advertisement for Barack Obama or John McCain, creating the appearance of an endorsement. And I guess they don't care if constituents clicking on their videos will be treated to commercials for anything you can imagine, from the latest Hollywood blockbuster to Viagra. Certainly, advertisements are a reality in today's world and most people can distinguish. However, it is also a reality that Members of Congress who use taxpayer money to communicate with constituents should be held to the highest possible standard of independence - and the appearance of independence."

Under the new rule, Culberson says, members of Congress could use new media tools but only if the website/blog etc (1) was "sanitized" and had no political or commercial advertising or political opinion; (2) contained a disclaimer that the post was official business etc, and (3) our post conformed to House rules, I.E. was edited and/or approved by House franking.

"Similarly, I am sure it was easy to write an op-ed in a Soviet newspaper as long as you didn't mind the guy looking over your shoulder," Culberson says.

The New York Times reported yesterday on the spat, noting that Culberson actually cornered Capuano last Wednesday and tried, as he put it, to "interview" him with his video-enabled cellphone with plans to post it to his personal page on Qik. Needless to say, Capuano declined.