Texas prisoners are forbidden to have any social media presence, according to the new Texas Department of Criminal Justice Offender Handbook published April 1. Fusion reports that prison officials say they will send social media outlets, such as Facebook, notices to take down accounts and prisoners will be given level-three punishments, the lowest. But the Electronic Frontier Foundation points out that had Martin Luther King, Jr. written “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” today, his wife would not have been able to post it on his social media account. “Supporters of inmates often use social media to raise attention about prison conditions and the appeal campaigns of individual prisoners,” EFF wrote. “This policy would not only prohibit the prisoners’ exercise of their First Amendment rights, but also prevent the public from exercising their First Amendment right to gather information about the criminal justice system from those most affected by it.”

http://fusion.net/story/290894/texas-inmates-social-media-ban/