More than 40 state legislators in Maryland have created Facebook pages. But don't expect them to post any status updates during the workday.
In one of the more bizarre governmental leaps of
logic, the Maryland General Assembly's Information Services Director has blocked access to Facebook and MySpace due to a fear of computer viruses.
"With the beginning of the 2009
Legislative Session, we have observed a significant increase in viruses and malware affecting the Maryland General Assembly computers," the Office of Legislative Information Systems Director Michael
Gaudiello wrote to staff on Thursday, according to Legum's New Line. "After several weeks of analysis, we
have determined that many of the infecting programs are originating from pages hosted on www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com."
That's not all. The IT department intends to continue its
investigation and ban other sites determined to be "problematic."
Has Gaudiello ever heard of anti-virus software? Banning Facebook and MySpace clearly doesn't solve the problem of viruses,
as many, many sites can install malware. And, clearly, many lawmakers find social networking sites useful for spreading messages to the people they represent.
Jolene Ivey, a Prince George's
County Democrat, told the Baltimore Sun she used to communicate with voters via Facebook. "I wouldn't say I'm devastated, but I am, like, seriously bummed out," she said.