PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Republican governor has settled with the ACLU over a lawsuit that charged his Facebook page was blocking the governor’s critics.
The operators of Gov. Paul LePage’s Facebook page agreed to unblock certain critics in a settlement reached Friday.
LePage doesn’t admit to the lawsuit’s claims he was censoring critics in a public forum and violating their civil rights.
LePage’s office says the governor’s page was a political site and not an official government page.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine filed the federal lawsuit in 2017 on behalf of two women, Kelli Whitlock Burton, of Waldoboro, and Karin Leuthy, of Camden.
ACLU chapters have helped lead similar efforts in states including Maryland and Kentucky. Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott unblocked Facebook users following a letter from the ACLU.
