What is the Brown Act?
The Brown Act is California’s open meetings law for local government. Its purpose is simple: public business is supposed to be conducted in public. City councils, commissions, and other local legislative bodies are generally required to meet openly, post agendas in advance, and give the public a chance to attend and participate.
Why does it matter?
The Brown Act exists to protect transparency and public trust. It is meant to prevent a majority of officials from discussing, deliberating, or building consensus about public business behind the scenes instead of in a properly noticed public meeting. California law specifically bars a majority from using a “series of communications,” directly or through intermediaries, to discuss agency business outside an authorized meeting.
What can Brown Act violations look like?
They can take different forms. A possible example would be councilmembers texting or emailing one another about how they plan to vote before a public meeting. Another could be a “daisy chain,” where one official talks to a second, that second talks to a third, and a majority ends up discussing the issue outside public view. It can also look like using intermediaries, such as staff, political allies, or anonymous accounts, to pass along positions or build agreement behind the scenes. And in the social media context, it can raise concerns if officials use posts, comments, replies, or reactions to communicate with one another about city business outside a public meeting. The core issue is whether a majority is discussing, deliberating, or developing concurrence outside the open, noticed process the law requires.
What about social media?
The Brown Act applies to social media too. In California, members of a local legislative body may use public social media platforms to share information, answer questions, and hear from residents. But they may not use those platforms to discuss agency business with one another outside a properly noticed public meeting. That includes comments, replies, and even reaction icons or “likes” when those reactions are made to another member’s post about city business. The basic rule is simple: officials may communicate with the public online, but they should not communicate among themselves online about matters that may come before them.
When the post is by a non-councilmember, the rule is less automatic. The Brown Act does allow members to use public social media to answer questions, provide information, or hear from the public. But that permission only lasts so long as a majority of the body does not use the platform to discuss among themselves business of a specific nature.
So if several councilmembers all click “like” on the same resident’s post about an item that will come before them, that is not as clearly prohibited as liking each other’s posts. But it can still create Brown Act risk if the pattern functions as a visible signal of agreement, coordination, or collective deliberation before the public meeting. Put simply: one member reacting to a resident’s post is usually less concerning; a majority of members doing it on the same pending item starts to look like they are communicating positions outside the noticed meeting.
Why does that matter?
Because the Brown Act is designed to prevent a majority of officials from discussing, deliberating, or building agreement outside public view. In the social media context, concerns can arise when councilmembers use posts, comments, replies, or reactions in ways that appear to signal positions, test consensus, or communicate with one another about pending issues before the public meeting happens.
Why should residents care?
Because open government only works if the public can actually see how decisions are being shaped. When discussions happen outside public view, residents lose the opportunity to hear the reasoning, respond in real time, and hold elected officials accountable. The Brown Act is one of the basic safeguards that helps keep local government transparent, participatory, and on the record.
You may also like:
Learn the Basics: A simple guide to how Encinitas local government works.
How To Guide: Learn how to take part in local government, find agendas, make public records requests and more. A beginner-friendly civic guide.
All About Agendas: If you want to understand what local government is doing, start by reading meeting agendas.