Social Media Community Guidelines

Because communication via social media constitutes a limited public forum, the City reserves the right to reject or remove (if possible) any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Content and comments posted to City social media accounts containing any of the following forms of content shall not be permitted and are subject to removal and/or restriction by City social media account managers:

1. Comments or hyperlinks not directly related to the business or work of this department/office or to the particular social media content being commented upon may be deleted.
2. Defamatory, threatening, profane, obscene, violent, bullying, sexual or harassing language or links are not allowed and may be deleted.
3. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates hate or discrimination on the basis of on any legally protected category including, religion or creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity, gender expression, genetic characteristics or information, military and veteran’s status, or any other category protected by federal or state law, including association with individuals with these protected characteristics or perception that an individual has one or more of these protected characteristics. We may delete any such content.
4. Solicitations of commerce are not allowed. Do not post advertisements, prize contests, promotions to like a page, or giveaways. This includes promotion or endorsement of any financial, commercial or nongovernmental agency.
5. Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures will be deleted.
6. Personally identifiable information, such as an address, phone number, email addresses, social security number or other sensitive information should not be posted and may be removed.
7. Details about an ongoing investigation or legal or administrative proceeding that could prejudice the processes or could interfere with an individual's rights and may interfere with or compromise current investigations, police tactics and the safety or security of public safety staff and/or the public or public systems should not be posted and may be removed.
8. Content that promotes or encourages, or appears to promote or encourage, the use or possession of unlawful or illegal goods, the use of illegal services, or the practice of illegal behaviors or activities should not be posted and may be removed.
9. Distribution of copyrighted photographs, music, video, graphics or other content without the express permission of the copyright holder or that violates the legal ownership interests of another party is not allowed and may be removed.
10. Content that defames or defrauds anyone or financial, commercial or nongovernmental agency should not be posted and may be removed.
11. Documents of any kind like invoices, personnel lists, rosters, etc. should not be posted and may be removed.
12. Comments that violate this policy may be removed from the social media page.
13. Posts or links that contain malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware or any other unwanted software should not be posted and may be removed.
14. Multiple or repetitive posts will be considered spam, will be archived, and may be hidden and removed.