Blocked!

Nexstar’s WCMH (Columbus) is having their website blocked by a local police department.

Police officers for the City of Reynoldsburg are claiming that WCMH's website, NBC4i.com, has been blocked on department-owned computers. The officers made this claim anonymously, for fear of repercussions from Reynoldsburg police leadership, following a report about the Reynoldsburg Division of Police that ran last Wednesday on WCMH and was later posted on NBC4i.com. The report was part of WCMH's ongoing coverage of alleged turmoil among the ranks at RPD, and featured officers speaking on the record about low morale and retaliatory leadership.

Mayor Joe Begeny has stated that NBC4i.com has not been blocked on his work computer and questioned whether any of the affected devices were owned by the city or its police force. He stated that they are reviewing all devices to see if there is any actual evidence of this occurring on any City device to verify, but it is unlikely that the devices are actually property of the City of Reynoldsburg or the Reynoldsburg Police Department.

WCMH began hearing Thursday that the site was blocked, although the same people were able to reach other local news sites. Those visiting NBC4i.com reached a page with an error message on it, regardless of which web browser they used, that contained the wording “tunnel connection failed,” a sign that a site has been blocked by a network administrator. As of Wednesday morning, WCMH was still receiving reports of its website being blocked. Asked when access was first prohibited to NBC4i.com, officers said they were unsure.

Brian Marvin, a retired Reynoldsburg detective who investigated cybercrimes and helped manage certain IT systems for the department, said a third-party vendor handles the city’s IT services. This is a serious concern as it raises questions about censorship and the restriction of access to information. It is important that an investigation is conducted to determine the cause of this issue and take appropriate action to ensure that the public has access to accurate and important information.

H/T WCMH