There’s no denying that blog sites have played a role in the political conversation, and their comment sections have often become long records of charged political debates.
One would think that if one political blog is accessible at a public library, all the political blogs would be treated the same.
That’s not the case in Santa Ana.
Computers at the city’s public library, which is adjacent to City Hall, display an access denied message when trying to log onto The LiberalOC blog.
However, Red County and OrangeJuice blog, which are considered opponents to The LiberalOC, can be viewed on a library computer.
“This is unheard of, I mean, I’m dumbfounded that there would be such a block on a blog that does not have pornographic or any suspicious content whatsoever,” said Chris Prevatt, publisher of The LiberalOC.
Lynn Nguyen, who is in charge of technology and support at the library, did not respond to a call for comment.
The LiberalOC is often critical of City Council and events at City Hall in general, and although Prevatt said he wants to give the city “the benefit of the doubt,” the block does make him suspicious.
“I would hope its not a direct attempt to hide dissent on the part of staff, but it does raise that question,” Prevatt said.
Prevatt says there might be one other reason the site might be blocked by a web filter. Art Pedroza, during a particularly ugly spat between the two, bought a domain name similar to The LiberalOC and linked it to the North American Man Boy Love Association, an organization that says sex between adults and children is OK.
This isn’t the only case where a public agency has blocked access to a political blog.
According to this post in the Friends For Fullerton’s Future, that blog was blocked on the Fullerton Unified School District wireless network, while others were accessible.