Holmdel BOE President To Twitter: ‘Remove The Ban’ On O’Scanlon

HOLMDEL, NJ - Holmdel Board of Education President Victoria “Vicky” Flynn is speaking out after state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon was banned from Twitter over the weekend, arguing that the social media platform should never censor elected officials.

O’Scanlon, the Republican senator who represents the thirteenth legislative district in New Jersey, was barred from the website this weekend after posting a tweet criticizing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations and vaccine passports.

NJ.com reported that his specific tweet was posted on June 25, with O'Scanlon reportedly tweeting: “Given that we have crushed Covid with combination of natural immunity and voluntary uptake there is no reason anyone should be compelled to take the vaccine. Restrictions/mandates/vaccine passports all uncalled for.”

O'Scanlon said Twitter suspended his account Saturday for that specific tweet, according to NJ.com. Twitter sent him a message saying that specific tweet "violated the Twitter rules," according to conservative news blog SaveJersey. His account was reinstated Sunday night after he agreed to take down that June 25 tweet, according to the report.

“Please tweet Twitter CEO @jack to demand he remove the ban on @declanoscanlon account,” Holmdel's Flynn tweeted on July 17. “Twitter should NEVER silence the voice of our elected leaders. Censorship is never the answer. Declan should be allowed to share his opinions, esp[ecially] with his constituents.”

Flynn is also a Republican candidate for Assembly in the thirteenth legislative district. Read more: Flynn Wins GOP Endorsement, Beats Incumbent DiMaso

Please tweet Twitter CEO @jack to demand he remove the ban on @declanoscanlon account. Twitter should NEVER silence the voice of our elected leaders. Censorship is never the answer. Declan should be allowed to share his opinions, esp with his constituents. #removethebanjack. pic.twitter.com/z9JnPTZk01
— Victoria Flynn (@flynnforNJ) July 18, 2021

The debacle comes amid the creation of a new mobile phone app where New Jersey residents can access their COVID-19 vaccination cards, as revealed by Gov. Phil Murphy last Monday. The Department of Health partnered with Docket to allow those vaccinated to access their records.

"To be absolutely clear, this is not a passport," said Gov. Murphy last week, as Patch previously reported. "Docket is intended to solely give residents easy access to their COVID vaccination record, especially if their COVID vaccination card has been damaged or lost."

The thirteenth legislative district includes Aberdeen, Atlantic Highlands, Fair Haven, Hazlet, Highlands, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Little Silver, Marlboro, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport, Sea Bright, Rumson and Union Beach.

With reporting by Carly Baldwin.