Social Media Policy

Village of Crete Social Media Policy for Use of Village Social Media by the Public.

Dated November 21, 2019

Purpose:
The Village of Crete understands that social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become a common form of communication in the workplace and among residents, media outlets and other stakeholders. Social networks are online communities of people or organizations that share interests and/or activities and use a wide variety of technology to make the interaction a rich and robust experience, while fostering openness and transparency. Using this technology, the Village has the ability to publish news releases, highlight events, ordinances and positive media coverage as well as other information that supports the goals and mission of the Village.

Definitions:
“Social media account” shall mean any of the Village of Crete’s accounts on online services that allow for interaction with Village residents, including but not limited to: Twitter, Facebook, and so on.

A. Limited Public Forum.
The Village’s social media accounts are limited public forums. The Village does not make its social media accounts available for general public discourse, but rather reserves and limits the topics that may be discussed on its social media accounts. The Village also reserves the right to remove content in order to maintain a site which is uncluttered and current.

B. Content Restrictions.
Because communication via social media constitutes a limited public forum, the Village reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Content that is deemed not suitable for posting by the Village’s Staff because it is not topically related to the particular subject being commented upon, or is deemed prohibited content based upon the criteria defined below, shall be retained pursuant to the records retention schedule along with a description of the reason the specific content was removed. Village social media account content and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed
for posting:

1. Slanderous, libelous, malicious, offensive, threatening, profane, uncivil, or insulting language to a reasonable person. References to the personality of individuals or personal attacks will not be permitted.
2. Comments not topically related to the particular site or blog article being commented upon.
3. 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.
4. Sexual content or links to sexual content.
5. Solicitations of commerce.
6. Personally identifiable information, such as an address, phone number, social security number or other sensitive information.
7. Comments cannot represent a person other than the one posting a comment.
8. Links to outside websites, including Facebook tags.
9. Political links.
10. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity. 11.Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
12.Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.

C. Notice.
Users and visitors to the Village’s social media accounts shall be notified that the intended purpose of the site is to serve as a mechanism for communication of Village news, services and events and that it is a limited public forum. The policy regarding comment removal shall also be included in this notice.categories