The Honolulu Police Department has changed its Facebook posting policy after a federal lawsuit claimed the department arbitrarily deletes posts and bans those who make comments that are unfavorable to the department.

A federal judge said Wednesday the changes regarding public posting makes moot plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction.

KITV reports the department now allows unrestricted posting on the Facebook page. 

Hawaii Defense Foundation’s lawsuit claims that removing comments violates freedom of speech. 

The plaintiffs are the group’s president, Christopher Baker, and Derek Scammon, the group’s assistant director. The lawsuit says numerous comments they posted were removed without explanation and both men were later banned from the page. 

An Oct. 4 hearing is scheduled to determine progress on resolving the lawsuit.