All uses of social media on behalf of the town or any town department, or in any manner that appears to represent the town or constitute communication by the town, must comply with the following standards.
(A) Departments and department heads.
(1) No department may establish, use or terminate a social media identity, account, profile, page or site without the approval of a Town Council designee. Designees of the Council include the Town Council President and Clerk-Treasurer.
(2) Department heads shall be the authorized social media user for the department. Only the department head shall be authorized to post social media content on the department’s social media account or accounts and may have access to the department’s social media accounts that permit such posting.
(3) No information or hyperlink to any Internet site or other materials or communications may be posted on a departmental social media account that is not directly related to the mission, services and business objectives of the department.
(4) Department social media sites must prominently display, on the first page accessible to site visitors, links to the town’s official Internet site: www.townofadvance.com.
(B) Employees and contractors.
(1) No town employee or contractor employed by the town may establish any social media account in the name of or on behalf of the town or any department unless a Town Council designee and the user’s department head have all approved the account.
(2) Social media accounts established by the town or a town department are to be used for town and department business purposes only. Use for communications and postings that are not directly related to a town or department business purpose is prohibited.
(3) Employees must report unauthorized uses of town social media or town social media accounts to the head of their department and a Town Council designee.
(C) Unacceptable uses.
(1) The town considers the activities and uses of social media listed below to be unacceptable. Department heads and employees are prohibited from engaging in any of them on a social media account established by the town or a town department:
(a) Using social media in a manner that does not comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations, and with town and department policies;
(b) Using social media in a manner that violates the copyright, trade or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity, or otherwise violates their legal ownership interests; includes ethnic slurs, profanity, personal insults, material that is harassing, defamatory, fraudulent or discriminatory or other content or communications that would not be acceptable in a town workplace under town or department policy or practice;
(c) Violates the terms of contracts governing the use of any social media content, including, but not limited to, software and other intellectual property licenses; displays sexually explicit images, cartoons, jokes, messages or other material in violation of the town’s sexual harassment policy;
(d) Displays any “political activities” defined as any activity in support of, within or in opposition to, a political party or any activity in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate before or during an election period;
(e) Contains confidential or “for official use only” information or information that compromises the security of town networks or information systems. Such “for official use only” or confidential information includes, but is not limited to, information that is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), being Pub. Law No. 104-191, or other federal, state or local laws and regulations (except as permitted under such laws and regulations) as well as Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information; and
(f) Violates the terms of use governing the social medial account.
(2) This list is not exhaustive. Questions about particular uses of social media or particular social media content should be directed to the Town Council or its designee.
(D) Personal social media accounts.
(1) Postings and user profiles on personal social media accounts must not state or imply that the views, conclusions, statements or other social media content are an official policy, statement, position or communication of the town, or represent the views of the town or any town officer or employee, unless the head of the user’s department or a Town Council designee have granted express permission for that user to do so.
(2) If a town employee or contractor employed by the town has not received such express permission, any user profile, biography or posting on a personal social media account that identifies that person as a town employee or contractor employed by the town must include a qualifying statement in substantially the following form: “The opinions and views I express on this site are my own and do not reflect any official view or position of the Town of Advance.”
(E) Information requirements. Department heads must submit a list of all social media accounts maintained by the department to a Council designee including, at a minimum, the following information:
(1) The name, hosting site and Internet address and date of inception for the account and a statement of the purpose and scope of the department’s use of the account;
(2) All user names, passwords and other log-in credentials for the account;
(3) All authorized social media users for the department that have access to and/or responsibility for the account;
(4) The administrative contacts and contact information for the account. The department head must promptly notify a Council designee of any changes in any of the foregoing, and of any new department social media accounts or pages and any termination of accounts or pages; and
(5) Department heads shall ensure that all department-approved social media accounts and social media content are periodically reviewed for compliance with this policy.
(F) Records retention. Social media content is subject to the records retention and destruction schedule established by the state’s Commission of Public Records, whether or not the social media is currently posted on the department’s site(s). Departments are responsible for making and retaining such postings, as required by the state’s records retention and destruction schedule.
(Ord. 2017-08, passed 11-13-2017)