Colombia’s Inspector General has criticized the “overuse” of the social networking website Twitter by the country’s public officials, newspaper El Espectador reported Sunday.
Alejandro Ordoñez Maldonado says the publication of formal decisions on Twitter violates legal requirements to properly disclose certain types of government information, according to Radio Caracol.
He plans to release a letter in the coming days criticizing the use of Twitter for the presentation of formal decisions before they have been officially released to the public.
The announcement from the Inspector General’s Office came just days after the commander of the Armed Forces General Alejandro Navas prematurely and incorrectly announced the deaths of 15 soldiers via Twitter, although a press statement released a few hours later reported only four dead.
The statement from Navas was only one of many legally and ethically questionable Twitter posts documented by the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to reports. Ordoñez found that ministers, governors, mayors, secretaries, councilors and more had released sensitive information on Twitter before it was appropriate to do so, including the dismissal of government officials and the release of prisoners.
Ordoñez also criticized fights which take place between officials on the site, although he did not reveal the names of any specific officials who had engaged in such conduct.