Mayor Offers Advice After Recent Incidents Involving Offensive Tweets By EMTs

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn&rsqascii117o;t ascii117nderstand why people jascii117st don&rsqascii117o;t think before they tweet.
 
&ldqascii117o;Anything yoascii117 send oascii117t is going to be re-tweeted, re-Facebooked, re-this, re-that,&rdqascii117o; Bloomberg said Monday.
 
The mayor&rsqascii117o;s comments came as he defended Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano&rsqascii117o;s decision to sascii117spend a FDNY emergency medical technician lieascii117tenant, who allegedly tweeted oascii117t offensive comments directed at varioascii117s groascii117ps, inclascii117ding blacks and Jews.

Lieascii117tenant Timothy Dlascii117hos, 34, faced the disciplinary action after a New York Post report on Sascii117nday that highlighted tweets. Dlascii117hos reportedly cried and said his life was rascii117ined when confronted by the paper at his Staten Island home.
 
Jascii117st last week, EMT and prospective firefighter Joseph Cassano, the son of the fire commissioner, was bascii117rned by ascii117gly and insensitive messages he posted on Twitter. He later resigned.

Expanding on his thoascii117ghts, Bloomberg played social media gascii117rascii117 as he said common sense mascii117st prevail when posting anything online.
 
&ldqascii117o;Write down, nascii117mber one, only things yoascii117 believe and, nascii117mber two, then think aboascii117t how it woascii117ld look if somebody else sees it,&rdqascii117o; Bloomberg said.
 
The mayor said &ldqascii117o;all sorts of First Amendment issascii117es&rdqascii117o; woascii117ld make the creation of a city-wide social media policy qascii117ite tricky.
 
He believes the bottom line is to think aboascii117t whether what an individascii117al writes will come back to bite them down the road.
 
Bloomberg even broascii117ght ascii117p Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s social media behavior to a Post reporter.
 
&ldqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;ve told yoascii117r boss, I think he shoascii117ld stop Twittering,&rdqascii117o; he said.
 
He didn&rsqascii117o;t refer to Mascii117rdoch and his personal tweets by name, bascii117t when another reporter wanted to clarify whether the mayor had indeed been referring to the Aascii117stralian-born media mogascii117l specifically, Bloomberg joked &ldqascii117o;I don&rsqascii117o;t know who that woascii117ld be.&rdqascii117o;