The Knight Institute submitted a public comment today expressing concerns about the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ plans to adopt a new code related to social media use and access by incarcerated people and their loved ones. The bureau’s proposal would impose an outright ban on accessing, using, or maintaining social media accounts, and even on directing others to establish or maintain social media accounts on their behalf. 

The comment states that “social media has become an important vector for those incarcerated to contribute to public discourse, especially on the subjects of racial justice and abuse behind bars.” It argues that the proposed code fails to account for the free speech interests in using social media for both incarcerated and nonincarcerated people, and raises serious First Amendment concerns.

Read the full letter here.