Assistant Secretary of State Jim Drake
I didn’t intent to create some extra work for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office when I called Wednesday to ask a couple of questions about a Twitter page that seems to be illegally using the Arizona state seal. But that’s what has happened, as Assistant Secretary of State Jim Drake and other staff members are looking for whoever set up a Twitter account simply to forward the top stories of the day from the Arizona Republic.
Newsroom Web guru Jayson Peters pointed out the Twitter page to me. At first glance, the page would appear to be an official Republic marketing tool. In case you don’t use Twitter, you can upload an image to use as your standing icon when you tweet (to make it easier for followers to recognize a specific sender among the various tweets they receive).
What struck me as odd is this Twitter page uses the state seal as the icon. Arizona statutes restrict where the state seal can appear and specifically bar its use for commercial purposes. It’s a relatively obscure law. The only reason I know about is because I covered a story six or seven years ago about a state lawmaker who was accused of using the state seal in an unapproved manner.
What I learned then is the Secretary of State is the official guardian of the state seal. Much like a registered trademark, that office seeks to reign in unauthorized appearances in print, broadcast and the Internet.
So I was curious to know if this Twitter page was using the state seal legally, since it appeared to be tied to the state’s largest newspaper. But I learned from Drake and Republic Executive Editor Randy Lovely that this Twitter account has no association with the newspaper. In fact, the only background that’s publicly provided about who holds the account is listed in the bio as “The Republic of Arizona.”
Drake said today his office is seeking to unravel the mystery, as the secretary of state hasn’t given permission for use of the state seal in this manner.
FYI, state law does make such misuse a misdemeanor crime. But Drake said this issue is usually resolved with a single phone call, as most people promptly comply with the rules once they know about them.
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