Social Media Policy

THE CITY OF SUNBURY SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 

In recognition that social media services and platforms created and maintained by third-party providers are in widespread use as information sources amongst many demographics of the general public; and in recognition that social media services and platforms provide powerful means to timely and effectively disseminate important government information to the general public; and to ensure that the City of Sunbury’s social media accounts will continue to remain powerful, effective, user friendly, and welcoming means for the public to obtain important government information, the City of Sunbury, has established the following Social Media Policy, as may be amended from time to time, to govern and assist the public’s use of the City of Sunbury’s social media accounts.  

Where the functionality of a specific social media platform allows, the public may be permitted to post comments in response to the content contained in the City of Sunbury’s original post. Such posts and commenting are and shall be regarded as a limited public forum, voluntarily created by the City of Sunbury, and all commenting by all participants shall be required to conform to the following rules:     

1. The subject matter of all commenting on any City of Sunbury post shall be restricted to the subject matter of the original post. “Off-topic” comments and posts are not permitted.

2. Comments must be civil and may not contain slanderous, libelous, malicious, inflammatory, offensive, threatening, profane, or insulting language or otherwise constitute personal attacks or “trolling” behavior.

3. Content and language 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 are not permitted.

4. Advertising, spam, malware, solicitations of any sort, and promotional announcements are not permitted.

5. Other than the name or username identifying the participant, comments may not include personally identifiable information of the participant or any other person, such as addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, or other personally sensitive or private information.

6. Comments containing pornography or otherwise of a sexual nature or links to sexual content are not permitted.

7. The contents of all comments may not represent or be attributed to a person other than the person posting the comment.

8. Comments encouraging illegal activity are not permitted.

9. Posts and comments must not breach or violate any applicable law, rule, regulation, confidentiality, copyright, or otherwise constitute or contain any form of unprotected speech.

The City of Sunbury social media accounts are actively moderated by the City of Sunbury and may also be actively moderated by the third-party social media provider upon whose website or platform the social media account is maintained. Accordingly, the accounts may be subject to “Community Standards”, or other rules and regulations as determined and enforced by the social media provider on whose website or other platform the account is maintained. The City of Sunbury does not in any way control the rules, regulations, or Community Standards for conduct, posting, and commenting established by any social media provider upon whose website or platform the City of Sunbury’s social media account is maintained. The City of Sunbury specifically disclaims any responsibility for any social media provider’s enforcement actions of whatever sort, whether active or passive, taken against or in respect of any participant or user of the City of Sunbury’s social media accounts. Posts or comments that do not conform to this Social Media Policy, to the rules and regulations established by a social media provider, or which are otherwise not considered protected forms of speech may be subject to removal or other enforcement action by the City of Sunbury or the social media provider without prior notice or warning. Participants that repeatedly violate this Social Media Policy or the rules or regulations of a social media provider may have their ability to post and comment on the City of Sunbury social media accounts suspended or permanently terminated without prior notice or warning.  

Participants are solely responsible for the content of their posts and comments. The City of Sunbury disclaims any and all responsibility or liability to the participant or any third party for the contents of any post or comment made by any participant. 

Subject to certain statutory or other lawful exceptions only, most documents and records kept and maintained by the City of Sunbury, including posts and comments made by any person on the City of Sunbury’s social media accounts, are public records as defined under Ohio law or other applicable law.  The City of Sunbury does and shall always fully comply with Ohio law and other applicable law regarding the maintenance, retention, and disclosure of public records to third parties. Therefore, all participants and users of the City of Sunbury’s social media accounts are advised and cautioned that, unless a statutory or other lawful exception applies, any and all posts and comments made by any person on any City of Sunbury social media account are and shall be regarded as public records, subject to the maintenance, retention, and disclosure requirements contained in Ohio law or other applicable law.