Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli bans social media comments

The Noosa mayor has revealed he has also switched off public comments on his social media page, following the Sunshine Coast mayor’s controversial move earlier this week.

The Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli has doubled down on her controversial social media move.

Another mayor has revealed he has also switched off public comments on his social media page, following the Sunshine Coast mayor’s controversial move earlier this week.

Noosa Council Mayor Frank Wilkie said he had not had comments open on his social media pages since February this year.

“I found I did not have the time to responsibly monitor, moderate or respond to social media comments, given other formal work obligations,” Mr Wilkie said.

“Commentators remain free to post on the Noosa Council FB page which is moderated by dedicated council communications staff.

“They do a great job responding where appropriate and filtering out defamatory and hateful material. Commentators can continue to share my posts on their own or group pages and share thoughts there.”

Noosa mayor Frank Wilkie. Picture: Iwan Jones

Mr Wilkie’s comments come after the Sunshine Coast mayor has doubled down on her move to ban comments, stating she’s “not silencing genuine feedback”.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli announced through a video posted on Monday that she would no longer allow comments on her social media pages.

“I’m sure you don’t want me spending my time moderating comments on social media, so it is best to turn them off,” Ms Natoli said in the video.

Ms Natoli told this publication her social media pages were not the place for “negative engagement or even slander”, stating “people are being harmed” through the page.

“I want to be transparent about what I am doing and where I am going and what issues I am working on — which being on social media allows me to do,” Ms Natoli said.

“I also seek to raise the profile of community groups and events to increase awareness about their important causes and the roles they play in our community.

“This is my page and my responsibility. I have an obligation to all people that comments are factual and not harmful. I cannot be monitoring all of the comments, and I don’t honestly believe anyone would want their mayor to be spending hours a day monitoring comments on social media.”

The reactions from the local community following the announcement were divided, with some applauding the mayor’s call while others criticised the move.

“This is a disturbing trend and I hope the comments can be reinstated so everyone can have open discussion,” one comment posted to social media stated.

“The whole point of social media is engagement. For a media professional who has committed to transparency this is pretty poor form,” a separate comment from a local community page said.

“She’s super smart and professional. The commenters on her posts, not so much. Good on you Mayor Rosanna Natoli! and keep up the good work,” another wrote.

Ms Natoli said locals were able to call or email her office with any issues.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli bans social media comments