In his Daily Action Planhere on PocketFives, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineerMuny revealed that pro-online poker comments had been deleted from the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs’ Facebook page. Moreover, those who championed the legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States were banned from the Committee’s wall.

Muny was among those who received a ban and, in response, sent a letter to the Committee on Indian Affairs on Sunday through its web contact form. After calling the act “outrageous” on PocketFives, Muny told us on Monday, “I simply told them that many people had made posts calling for licensing and regulating online poker and were subsequently banned. I said the Committee had two hearings recently and we still have business pending before it.”

Muny posted his letter to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in his Daily Action Plan on PocketFives and included a photo of members of the PPA meeting with Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI). On Monday, Muny had been un-banned from the Committee’s Facebook page.

This author was surprised that a Senate Committee had censored posts and banned users from its Facebook page. Muny speculated as to what could have led the Committee to act: “One or two people who posted comments on that page posted complaints about the high level of advocacy on that Facebook wall, even calling poker players ‘disrespectful.’ My assumption is that someone either didn’t like the issue or was an overzealous admin who felt the site would be better with issues more in line with the day-to-day activities of the Committee.”

The Committee recently held its second hearing related to internet gaming legalization in February. The Native American community seemingly has quite a bit at stake should internet gaming become legalized and regulated in the U.S. In fact, testimony from one hearing asserted that land-based Indian gaming could generate $256 billion over the next 10 years.

Not only is web gaming germane to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, but also according to Muny, removing relevant Facebook posts could be a violation of the First Amendment. The PPA representative wrote in his letter to the Committee on Sunday, “I urge you to please allow Americans to exercise their rights to freedom of speech and to petition government for redress of grievances as guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

Muny told PocketFives that the staff of Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ, pictured) previously removed poker-related posts from his Facebook page and banned users in a similar fashion. Poker players can now freely post on Kyl’s wall, but earlier bans were not rescinded. Consequently, Muny is among those who are still unable to post on the UIGEA front man’s wall.

Several poker players took to the Committee’s Facebook page on Monday, posting comments like, “Thank you for removing the ban on online poker advocates. The bill to legalize online poker is before your committee and we request that you view it favorably and send it to the floor for a full vote. Thank you.”

If you’re worried about potentially receiving a ban from a Committee’s Facebook page, Muny urged calm: “I don’t think this should deter anyone from posting. Few lawmakers delete poker posts and ban poker players. The ones who still do are the ones who need to see our activity level and hear from us. So, it makes sense to ensure that we draw attention by these actions.”

Muny added, “Even if a lawmaker does ban us, that does not impact us on Facebook in any way outside of that specific wall. Facebook will not penalize users for getting banned from a politician’s wall.”

However, Muny pointed out that lawmakers ultimately answer to voters. In fact, a general election in the U.S. will take place in six short months. Thus, lawmakers could be best served by allowing reasonable Facebook comments to stand: “If a lawmaker starts his own Facebook page, they should expect to get comments from the community. If they want to restrict it to constituents only, that’s fine, but I believe they need to treat poker enthusiasts no differently than they treat posters on any other issue.”

According to the American Gaming Association’s State of the States report released last week, 29 U.S. states offer Tribal gaming. The Indian community also has close ties to poker and several Indian casinos hosted World Poker Tour events during the most recent season, including the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida and Foxwoods in Connecticut.

Read the Daily Action Plan here on PocketFives.