My, how things can change when your party forms government and you're given one of the most sensitive cabinet posts.

A year ago, Vancouver–Point Grey NDP MLA David Eby was one of the legislature's most prolific Twitter users.

In fact, a Hill & Knowlton Strategies review ranked him second among all MLAs in using Twitter to connect with audiences and build support. Eby ranked only behind B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver and ahead of every other member of his caucus, including the leader, John Horgan.

The next highest New Democrat was Spencer Chandra Herbert in eighth spot, followed by Horgan in ninth.

But since the B.C. Liberal government fell on June 29, Eby hasn't put out a single retweet. Today marks the three-month anniversary of his last tweet. It seems strange, wouldn't you think?

After Eby's Twitter feed went silent, Premier John Horgan appointed him attorney general.

Eby's reticence over this social-media platform stands in sharp contrast to every other member of the NDP cabinet.

With the exception of Health Minister Adrian Dix, they've all been tweeting and retweeting into October.

Unlike Eby, Dix hasn't been silent on Twitter since joining cabinet. He put out his last tweet on September 22 and he's been retweeting other messages since then.

Also unlike Eby, Dix wasn't a prolific user of Twitter before his party formed government.

So it's not as if Dix has changed his social-media behaviour in any significant way. But Eby has.

What can it all mean?

Has Horgan or his chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, instructed Eby to put a lid on it?

Did Eby's former ministerial assistant and former Meggs colleague Stephen Howard—a former chief of staff to Adrian Dix—take away Eby's cellphone?

Or did Eby's oft-stated remarks about corruption in the past lead him to decide to stop using Twitter now that he's the A-G?

I can hear the naysayers saying "Eby is too busy reviewing legislation to go on Twitter these days." But that negates the fact that other cabinet ministers have full plates yet they still manage to put out the odd Happy Diwali tweet.

To me, it has all the earmarks of a muzzling.