Rees says he does not need negativity as he continues to block those who criticise him on Twitter

Longstanding Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Kent is the latest person to be blocked by Marvin Rees on Twitter.

Kent asked a written question to Rees in full council about whether he should be using his official mayoral account to block citizens.

In response, Rees said: “I set up my @marvinjrees Twitter account before being elected as Mayor.

“I can choose what I do with that account. That includes blocking individuals who are abusive or deliberately spread misinformation.”

Rees later revealed to Bristol24/7, however, that his Twitter account is both private and public, with certain council staff able to access it.

The morning after the full council meeting, Kent was himself blocked on Twitter by Rees, who has blocked dozens of people from viewing his tweets, including politicians, campaigners and journalists.

“In Bristol questioning of the Mayor is NOT allowed,” Kent said.

Bristol City Council has paid more than £100,000 over more than three years to a company to gauge what people are saying about Rees and the city council on Twitter.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Rees was clear to stress that Impact Social was not about monitoring citizens, but about understanding what they are saying online.

Tim Kent was one of the people named in Impact Social’s report from December 2019, collating who had been tweeting about the mayor. Find all of their reports here – image: Impact Social

“I don’t have individuals who I target but I generally have a criteria and I think I should set an example,” said Rees in his fortnightly press conference on Wednesday when asked why he had blocked Kent on Twitter.

“If people are misleading, abusive, pointless or unnecessarily negative, then I decide to block them…

“I’m the mayor of the city and I’m really concerned about people’s mental health…

“For my own health as well, if people are just doing that on social media, I’ll block them. Because what I’m in the business of is associating with positivity and with people who have something to contribute to the city, not just moaning about it all the time and being unduly negative.

“And what I hope is that in the example that I’m setting in blocking people who are like that, that other people feel permission to block them on their social media too.

“You do not have to have to have people in your life who are just pits of negativity all the time.

“I’ve set an example but I hope that other people start to do it and maybe actually as more people begin to block people like that, then we will actually clean up our social media and turn it into a place where we can have a better quality of human interaction, rather than what it’s becoming.”

Rees says that he blocks people from his private Twitter account if they are abusive or spread misinformation – photo: Twitter

On Impact Social, whose contract with the council was only revealed through a Freedom of Information request, Rees said that “it’s not about monitoring, it’s about understanding what people are talking about”.

“And it’s really important that the council understands what the concerns of people are and what they’re talking about.”

Rees’ private account is called his official Twitter in its bio – photo: Twitter

Among those blocked by Rees include former Lib Dem mayoral candidate Caroline Gooch and journalist Andrew Lynch.

Lynch, who lives in Hotwells, said: “If you wanted to create an image of the mayor as small-minded, irritable and aggressive, this is the way. If you wanted to create ‘loose talk’ or ‘cheap headlines’ then this is the way. This is not countering abuse. Welcome to the farm, Napoleon.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

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