A Melksham resident has raised concerns after being blocked from the town council’s Facebook page, with the council saying it has been unable to establish how it happened.
Rick Brightwell, who regularly shares his views on the council’s Facebook page, including questioning its decisions and criticising its spending, raised concerns after discovering he could no longer view the page.
Following questions from Melksham News, the council restored Rick’s access. It confirmed the block took place on 27th August at 7.39pm but said it could not establish the circumstances that led to it. Melksham News understands the block happened on the same evening Rick commented on a council post about public toilets.
Rick said, “As a member of the public, I believe I should be able to access public information and engage with my local council without being prevented from doing so without a clear and reasonable explanation.
“What makes this particularly troubling is that the council has said it does not know how the block happened or who was responsible. While I cannot definitively prove it was deliberate, I find it difficult to dismiss that possibility, particularly given that my account appeared on the council page’s blocked list.”
The council said its Facebook page is administered by authorised officers, but platform logs did not provide enough detail to establish who initiated the block or why. No councillors have access to the council’s Facebook page.
Officers suggested platform-level controls or duplicate-profile detection may have affected account visibility. The council also said that, of the 51 blocked accounts on its list, most appeared to be spam, duplicate accounts, suspected bots or accounts associated with malicious online activity.
However, Meta, which owns Facebook, user guidance states that page-level blocks require manual action by a page administrator.
A council spokesperson said, “The Council welcomes robust debate and constructive challenge from residents and does not block individuals simply for expressing criticism or differing views.
“Having reviewed the information available to us, we have been unable to establish the circumstances that led to this account being blocked and have therefore reinstated access. We remain committed to transparency, accountability and open communication with our community.”
Rick added, “I believe the public deserves transparency and accountability from its elected representatives, and I would like a clear explanation of how this happened, why it happened, and what steps will be taken to ensure it does not happen again.”
The council has previously faced criticism over transparency after stopping live-streams of its meetings on Facebook. In June last year, councillors voted to end the broadcasts, citing concerns about safety and online abuse.
However, the decision prompted further criticism after the council revealed it had no recorded incidents of abuse occurring during or as a direct result of Facebook Live streams. Residents and some councillors raised concerns that moving away from Facebook made meetings less accessible and reduced transparency.
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