NSW Police Force - Astroturfing as policy.

Government entities, such as Local Area Commands [LAC] in the New South Wales Police Force [NSWPF], have Facebook pages.  I suppose the purpose of those pages is to engage with the public, to get announcements out, and so forth.

NSWPF social media policy is that duly designated officers can post on behalf of the NSWPF, but have to comply with strict rules something like "Comport yourself with some dignity.  No posting arbitrary tabloid muck if it could be confused as an official position."

So nothing like this:

"Pesky Judges, always upholding the law.
Let's try again in the
Court of Rupert Murdoch"

And nothing which might bring the NSWPF into disrepute, like this:

"Yay! Someone was extra-judicially executed!
Let that be a lesson to y'all!"

I complained about the BM LAC post, and it was removed pretty quickly.  After I complained to the BM LAC someone there blocked me.  I'm not saying *because* I complained, just after.

An appointed moderator officer is empowered by NSWPF social media policy to block people under some fairly subjective criteria.  They're not required to justify the decision, nor to inform the person they blocked.  That's ok, as far as it goes.

I got to wondering why the comments on NSWPF LAC posts sound like The Redneck Top-40 Propaganda Hits of 1958 (I just made that up, there's no such album.)  Have a read sometime.  All our favourites are there, including such timeless classics as 'God bless you officers your doing a greate job,'  and 'Lock 'em up and throw away the key, I say!!!!'

A little bit more reading, and it turns out that NSWPF social media policy permits serving police officers to post on the LAC lists but only if they don't disclose that they are serving police officers.

That explains that, then.  Keyboard cops, self-selecting people who share their beliefs, creating an echo chamber of self-serving propaganda, exercising their civil rights to congratulate themselves on a good job well done, hammering any disagreement while pretending to be disinterested (yes, I do have direct evidence of that occurring.)