Ossining Police Department Twitter Block List

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

Ossining Police Department
88 Spring Street
Ossining, NY 10562

Dear Freedom of Information Act Officer,

Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request

I hope this letter finds you well. Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, I am requesting access to the list of Twitter profiles blocked by the Ossining Police Department's official Twitter account (@OssiningPolice).

To assist you in locating these records, please follow the steps below to view the blocked profiles:

Log into the @OssiningPolice Twitter account.
Click on 'More' in the menu on the left-hand side.
Click on 'Settings and privacy'.
Select 'Privacy and safety'.
Scroll down to 'Safety' and click on 'Blocked accounts'. Here, you will find the list of all blocked profiles.
Given that these records relate to a public department's social media, which is utilized for communication with and among the public, they should fall within the purview of the Freedom of Information Act.

I would like to draw your attention to two cases related to social media blocking and the First Amendment. The first is Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump (2017), where the court found that blocking users from an official's Twitter account, which is used as a public forum, is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The second is Davison v. Randall (2019), where the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals extended this reasoning to local officials.

While these cases deal with blocking individuals on Twitter, they provide the legal context under which public officials and departments must operate when considering whether to block individuals from their social media accounts.

Given these precedents, the block list of the Ossining Police Department's Twitter account should constitute disclosable public records under the FOIA as they pertain to potential infringements on First Amendment activity.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jordan Lassiter