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The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office has turned off public comments on its Facebook page due to a surge in "outlandish, racist, disrespectful and derogatory" posts, many of which targeted crime victims. District Attorney Heather Adams stated that these comments hinder the office's mission to protect victims and their families from further harm, as reported by LancasterOnline.
The decision to disable comments was made Tuesday (November 3) after posts on the page included victim-blaming and racist language toward defendants. A spokesperson for the DA's office, Erik Yabor, noted that the tone of comments had "intensified in a negative direction lately." The office clarified that while many online forums exist for such comments, it is not obligated to provide one.
The policy change applies only to Facebook, leaving other social media platforms like Twitter unaffected. The DA's office indicated that the policy might be reevaluated in the future. According to Yahoo News, the office emphasized that "the victims of crimes highlighted on our page are our neighbors," and exposing them to ridicule on social media is a disservice.
The office cited specific incidents, including a post that generated responses blaming a crime victim for her death and others that used derogatory language. Another post about an attempted assault on a judge received comments supporting the accused's actions. Throughout October, posts about domestic violence victims and police achievements also attracted off-topic or disrespectful comments.
LancasterOnline's policy for comments on its own articles encourages civil discourse and prohibits attacks, profanity, and targeting individuals based on personal attributes. Executive Editor Tom Murse stated that the organization removes comments that violate these guidelines and sometimes disables comments entirely when necessary.