Mastriano should leave Facebook

Sen. Doug Mastriano should get off Facebook.

I don’t think it’s too much to expect our elected officials to maintain a certain level of conduct in the public sphere. We expect them to treat others with respect and behave so that, were our children to emulate their behavior, we would be proud of our kids.

Unfortunately, state Sen. Doug Mastriano either doesn’t seem to understand or care. If you’ve had the misfortune of seeing the content on his Facebook page, “Doug Mastriano Fighting for Freedom,” you’ll know what I’m talking about.

You might remember that, during his campaign, Doug shared what was known at the time to be “fake news” about the Notre Dame Cathedral, which implied that Muslim refugees started the fire. Unfortunately, it’s more of the same from Doug today, or whichever of his staffers runs the account. After the death of Jeffrey Epstein, Doug’s account made a post suggesting that the Clintons were responsible for his death. Much of Mastriano’s posts are screenshots of posts from various right-wing influencers or organizations, or are links to right-wing news sites. I’ve witnessed comments on the page be deleted when they oppose his views. Many of his 48 thousand followers don’t seem to be residents of the 33rd, but various conservatives from who-knows-where.

Even if sharing a conspiracy theory or Islamophobic content doesn’t bother you, there’s still a reason to be alarmed: Doug’s page is active at seemingly every hour of the day, save for the time between midnight and six. Whether it is Doug himself or a staffer running the page, does the Mastriano team not have anything better to do? Why is a full-time elected official spending so much of their time on social media interacting with people they don’t represent?

In contrast, take Torren Ecker, a Republican from the state House who also represents some of Adams County. I enjoy seeing Torren’s social media content on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. He shares photos of events he attends and gives updates on his work in Harrisburg. He’ll also share pictures of his beautiful family, a refreshing contrast to social media’s usual political divisiveness.

I would call it a generational difference, but I know Sen. Mastriano is smart enough to know what he’s doing. Senator, please stop spending so much of your time on Facebook and use it instead to get things done in Harrisburg.

Jack Edmondson,

East Berlin