Redland City Council has sought to shut down online criticism by sending threatening legal letters to residents over comments made on social media.

Five residents have received the legal threats in the past week over Facebook posts that suggested, among other things, that political donations from developers had swayed council decisions.

Redland City Council has issued legal letters to residents over Facebook posts. Credit:Wayne Taylor WMT

Fairfax Media has obtained three of those letters, penned by the council's general counsel Andrew Ross, demanding posts be removed and public apologies issued.

"If you do not comply with the above request, within the specified time, we have the option to issue a concerns notice under section 14 of the Defamation Act 2005 Qld," Mr Ross wrote in all three letters.