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Posted: Friday, September 7th, 2012 9:03 AM HST

Honolulu police change Facebook posting rules

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu police has changed its Facebook posting rules after a federal lawsuit claimed the department arbitrarily deletes posts and bans those who make comments that are unfavorable to the department. Hawaii Defense Foundation's lawsuit claims that removing comments violates freedom of speech. The plaintiffs are the group's president, Christopher Baker, and Derek Scammon, the group's assistant director. The lawsuit says numerous comments they posted were removed without explanation and both men were later banned from the page. But the Honolulu Department of the Corporation Counsel says the police department now allows unrestricted posting on the Facebook page. A federal judge said this week that the changes regarding public posting makes moot plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction. An October 4 hearing is scheduled to determine progress on resolving the lawsuit.