Hatch Act & E-mail, Blogs

Stephen Barr's Federal Diary column has an update on OSC's interpretation of the Hatch Act. OSC's new, harsher treatment of e-mail had been reported here previously. Blogging about politics from an office computer is an obvious no-no, but Barr points out that blogging from home can also cause problems:

Presidential campaign Web sites, for example, encourage supporters to create blogs on the site to advocate the candidate's positions. They also usually carry a link for campaign donations, and that can be trouble for a federal employee, even when using a home computer. The OSC may view the donate button as soliciting for political contributions, another no-no under the Hatch Act, and set off an investigation.