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Social Media Policy
INTERNAL POLICY
Purpose
This document defines the social media policy for the City of McCook, Nebraska, the "City". To address the fast-changing landscape of the Internet and the way residents communicate and obtain information online, City departments may consider using social media tools to reach a broader audience. The City encourages the use of social media to further the goals of the City and the missions of its departments, where appropriate.
The City has no overriding interest and expectations in deciding what is "spoken" on its behalf on social media sites. This policy establishes guidelines for the use of social media.
Acceptable Use
Personal Use
All City employees may have personal social media sites. These sites should remain personal in nature and be used to share personal opinions or non-work-related information. Following this principal helps ensure a distinction between sharing personal and City views.
City employees must never use their City email account or password in conjunction with a personal social media site.
The following guidance is for City employees who decide to have a personal social media site or who decide to comment on posts about official City business:
- State your name and, if relevant, role, when discussing City business:
- Use a disclaimer such as: "The postings on this site are my own and don't reflect or represent the opinions of the city for which I work."
- If a disclaimer is not used, a comment can be deemed a public record and may be subject to public records requests.
Professional Use
All official City-related communication through social media outlets should remain professional in nature and should always be conducted in accordance with the City's employee handbook. Employees must not use official City social media sites for political purposes, to conduct private commercial transactions, or to engage in private business activities.
Only individuals authorized by the City may publish content to a City website or social media page.
Approval and Registration
All City social media sites shall be (1) approved by the City Manager; and (2) published using approved social networking platform and tools.
Oversight and Enforcement
Employees representing the City through social media outlets or participating in social media features on City websites must maintain a high level of ethical conduct and professional decorum. Failure to do so is grounds for revoking the privilege to participate in City social media sites, blogs, or other social media features.
Information must be presented following professionals standards for good grammar, spelling, brevity, clarity and accuracy, and avoid jargon, obscure terminology, or acronyms.
City employees recognize that the content and messages they post on City social media websites are public and may be cited as official City statements. Social media should not be used to circumvent other City communication policies, including news media policy requirements.
City employees may not publish information on City social media sites that includes:
- Confidential information
- Copyright violations
- Profanity, racist, sexist, or derogatory content or comments
- Partisan political views
- Commercial endorsements or SPAM
Records Retention
Social media sites contain communications sent to or received by the City and its employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to Nebraska Public Records Statutes Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 84-712 through 84-712.09 (2014, Cum. Supp. 2022). These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (for example, digital text, photos, audio, and video). The Department maintaining a site shall preserve records pursuant to a relevant records retention schedule for the required retention period in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible. Furthermore, retention of social media records shall fulfill the following requirements:
- Social media records are captured in a continuous, automated fashion throughout the day to minimize a potential loss of data due to deletion and/or changes on the social networking site.
- Social media records are maintained in an authentic format (i.e. ideally the native technical format provided by the social network, such as XML or JSON) along with complete metadata.
- Social media records are archived in a system that preserves the context of communications, including conversation threads and rich media, to ensure completeness and availability of relevant information when records are accessed.
- Social media records are indexed based on specific criteria such as date, content type, and keywords to ensure that records can be quickly located and produced in an appropriate format for distribution (e.g. PDF).
- Each employee who administers one or more social networking sites on behalf of the City has self-service, read-only access to search and produce relevant social media records to fulfill public information and legal discovery requests as needed.
EXTERNAL POLICY
The following guidelines must be displayed to users on all social media sites or made available by hyperlink.
Moderation of Third-Party Content
The City social media site serves as a limited public forum and all content published is subject to monitoring. User-generated posts will be rejected or removed (if possible) when the content
- is off-subject or out of context
- contains obscenity or material that appeals to the prurient interest
- contains personal identifying information or sensitive personal information
- contains offensive terms that target protected classes
- is threatening, harassing or discriminatory
- incites or promotes violence or illegal activities
- contains information that reasonably could compromise individual or public safety
- advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual
- promotes or endorses political campaigns or candidates
Public Records Law
City social media sites are subject to applicable public records laws. Any content maintained in a social media format related to City business, including communication posted by the City and communication received from citizens, is a public record. The Department maintaining the site is responsible for responding completely and accurately to any public records request for social media content.