A New Jersey city is logging out of social media after its official Facebook page became swamped with bullying and threatening comments — with the mayor fearing the platform was “radicalizing” the town.
Lambertville Mayor Julia Fahl announced the city will begin phasing out the page as part of her call for the community to “get back to addressing each other like the neighbors we are.”
“In a step of modeling better behavior, the City of Lambertville will be disengaging from its public Facebook page,” she wrote in an op-ed Tuesday in The New Hope Free Press.
“While the City intended to use this page to disseminate timely information, it has turned into a large source of bullying and divisiveness.”
In a separate interview, Fahl claimed that residents on the page would spend “days and weeks” spreading false information about herself and the city council.
“This is something that has been an ongoing issue the last year, and I can’t stand for it anymore. This isn’t the way that politics is supposed to work,” Fahl told the New Jersey Advance.
“I’m not saying that we shouldn’t disagree with each other, but the city of Lambertville — because of this group — has crossed into a line that is absolutely out of control.”
Fahl has also accused the social network of slowly radicalizing the town.
“I think this is entirely the way the Facebook algorithm hones in on your interests and your clicks and your likes, and what you see and who you interact with, it has radicalized our community,” Fahl said.
“I think this is a perfect small-town example of how people get micro-inch by micro-inch moved to do radical things.”
Instead, Lambertville officials will communicate with residents through its city-wide emails and text messaging system, Fahl wrote in the op-ed.