(A) City officials (including members of boards, commissions, etc.) can maintain a personal presence on social media. However, to be considered personal, there can be no mention of their status as a city official. Any mention of their status as a city official potentially changes the nature of the page, requiring record keeping in accordance with the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives retention schedule and subjecting the entire page to open records requests.
(B) Elected city officials who want to interact with the community on social media in their role as city official are required to maintain a separate account. City officials will notify the City Clerk of any official page(s) utilized. The City Clerk will maintain an updated list of official pages of city officials.
(C) City officials shall conduct themselves professionally and as a representative of the city.
(D) An example of appropriate guidelines to be posted. In regard to comments placed on the social media site, the following guidelines are in force:
(1) As a public entity the city must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.
(2) The city's social media sites prohibit the posting of content and/or comments containing any of the following:
(a) Comments not topically related to the particular site or blog article being commented upon;
(b) Profane language or content;
(c) Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
(d) Sexual content or links to sexual content;
(e) Advertisements, solicitations, phishing;
(f) Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
(g) Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public;
(h) Campaign ads or related content advocating for or against a candidate for office;
(i) Comments unrelated to a topic or post as well as multiple off-topic posts or spam by a single person; or
(j) Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
(E) No comments shall be deleted unless in violation of posted guidelines. Deleted comments shall be provided to the City Clerk and must be saved for one (1) year.
(F) City officials shall not conduct city business through their social media sites. If receiving a specific request from a citizen, the city official shall state: "Thank you for your question. Please email me at [official email address] or contact me at [phone number]. I look forward to speaking with you."
(G) Elected officials shall not discuss issues pending before the city legislative body. Elected officials may elicit public input but shall not respond to comments. Engaging in substantive conversations on social media could require retention of the posts and may violate the Open Meetings Act if other elected officials are also engaging in the discussion.
(H) City employees are bound by the city's social media policies in the city employee handbook.
(Ord. 355(04-08-2020), passed 4-8-20)