Vancouver Mayor Speaks Against Social Media Ban on Election Day

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has openly stated his disappointment with the Elections B.C. decision to restrict candidates participating in the municipal election from using social media. According to the Elections Campaign Financing Act, using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media websites that send out messages would amount to advertising, which is something strictly disallowed to all candidates on election day.

The mayor gave these remarks in the West End on Saturday while accompanying his three kids to vote. He alleged that not being able to tweet or use other social media is “really disappointing” for Vision staff. Robertson alleged that “it’s not a good thing,” as he stood outside the West End Community Centre on Saturday morning. The mayor stated that “I disagree that we should be banned from social media on Election Day. Hopefully we will see that overturned soon. I hope that it doesn’t suppress the young vote today.” The decision to ban candidates and their organizations from using social media was made by Election B.C. in May, but Robertson claims that he was only given confirmation in the last 48 hours and so “it’s a last minute ruling that is surprising and disappointing.”

Robertson pointed out that “I think this has an impact on young voters, who certainly use social media more than the older generation.” He hoped to see a boost in voter turnout since it was a sunny day in Vancouver, alleging that “hopefully we get a big turnout today, that’s the important thing because we want as many people in Vancouver as possible to come out and vote.”