A Boulder councilmember, Taishya Adams, is being investigated after a citizen complaint alleged she blocked a resident from her Instagram account and discriminated against a Jewish citizen who registered to attend a book group that was offered by Adams. Adams uses the Instagram account to share information about the work she is doing on the city council.
The Fort Collins City Attorney’s Office is the special counsel investigating the complaint to prevent any potential conflict of interest.
The complaint letter was filed by Boulder citizens Rachel Amaru and Aaron Brooks. In the letter, Amaru and Brooks wrote that “while we are aware that Adams is allowed to block people from her personal social media accounts, it is our understanding that it is not legal for an elected official to block anyone on their social media if their account is used for city business of any kind.”
There is no specific code for the city of Boulder regarding social media interactions, but there is a constitutional principle that was ruled on by the Supreme Court in Lindke v. Freed (2024). The court ruled unanimously that public officials cannot block constituents when the social media activity can be considered a “state action.”
The ruling gives a two-point test to determine whether a social media account is acting on behalf of the government. The account must have “(1) possessed actual authority to speak on the State’s behalf on a particular matter, and (2) purported to exercise that authority when speaking in the relevant social-media posts.”
The ruling involved Kevin Lindke, a resident of Port Huron, Michigan, who was blocked by city manager James Freed after Lindke criticized the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amaru and Brooks provided 17 pages of posts from Adams’ Instagram account that involve business related to her position as a city council member.
Amaru alleges that she registered to attend Adams’ book group, but her registration was rescinded without explanation. Amaru also alleges that Adams blocked “multiple accounts of Boulder citizens who identify as Jewish.” In the letter, Amaru explains that Adams also blocked the Boulder chapter of Run For Their Lives, “a group that is part of a global initiative with the sole humanitarian mission of calling for the release of the hostages taken on October 7.”
One of the posts shared on Adams’ Instagram that was included with the complaint letter is a conversation with Adams published by KGNU community radio. It is titled “Boulder City Councilmember Taishya Adams is an example of Black-Palestinian solidarity.”
Councilmember Adams has not publicly responded to the allegations.
