The Banning of Facebook From the Lebanese Parliament

Here’s a “cool” story that is making the rounds in Lebanon today: Our elected representatives are banned from using Facebook when in parliament, supposedly because they’re playing poker online instead of legislating.

It’s one of those “fun” offbeat stories that the Lebanese love to share because it shows that you’re involved in politics without betraying your political affiliation (or the fact that you don’t understand Lebanese politics). But let’s think of this a bit: Who’s laying down the law on our lawmakers?

While Facebook can be a distraction, it’s also a great tool for elected representatives to get in touch with the people who voted for them. What if an MP wanted to consult her constituents before voting on an important issue? Why deprive her of such an important direct-democracy tool?

What next? Having proctors monitoring parliamentarians to make sure they’re working on their assignments? This is just silly..