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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Reso 2021-48 - Social Media PolicyRESOLUTION NO. 2021-48XX RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF UKIAH, ADOPTING THE CITY OF UKIAH SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY. WHEREAS, the City of Ukiah (“City”) recognizes the need for use of social media platforms as a means of conveying City information to its citizens; and WHEREAS, the City recognizes the effective method and popularity of use of various social media platforms, including (but not limited to) Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or NextDoor (collectively “Social Media”) by and amongst City elected officials and officers, City employees, and the public as a means of communication, promoting public awareness, City services, policies and programs; and WHEREAS, the City has determined that a Social Media Policy provides greater efficiency in government by outlining procedures for and expectations of the City’s use and presence on social media, as well as communicating the City’s rules regarding comment moderation of the public who comment on the City’s social media pages; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that adopting a Social Media Policy serves a municipal and public purpose. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Ukiah hereby adopts the City’s Social Media Policy, attached hereto as Exhibit A. PASSED, ADOPTED and APPROVED this 6th day of October 2020 by the following vote on roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: _______________________________ Juan V. Orozco, Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ Kristine Lawler, City Clerk Councilmembers Duenas, Brown, and Mayor Orozco None None Councilmembers Crane and Rodin SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANAGER XXX-2021 1 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com Purpose This policy establishes guidelines for the establishment and use by the City of Ukiah of social media sites as a means of conveying City of Ukiah (“City”) information to its citizens. City of Ukiah uses social media to disseminate information about the City to its citizens. The City of Ukiah reserves the right to decide what is “spoken” on behalf of the City on City Sites. The goals of City Sites are to: • Increase the public’s knowledge, trust, and use of City services • Promote the value and importance of City services among and between governing officials, civic leaders, and the general public • Maintain open, professional and responsive communication with members of the public and the news media Definitions “Comments” means and includes information, articles, pictures, videos or any other form of communication posted on a City of Ukiah social media site. “City of Ukiah Social Media Site” means a presence established by the City or a department head or department designee on a social media platform to provide, receive and share information in accordance with this policy. “Department” means any City department listed as such on the City’s website. “Department head” means the designated head of a City department, such as, but not limited to, the Public Works, Water and Wastewater, Electric, Police, Fire, Community Services, and Community Development Departments, and also includes the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Clerk and any other person designated as such by the City Manager. “Designee” means a person designated by a department head to manage social media for the Department. “Social media” means content created, using accessible, expandable, and upgradable publishing technologies, through and on the Internet. Examples of social media include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, and Instagram. SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANGER 2 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com Ownership All social media communications composed, sent, or received on City of Ukiah social media sites are the property of the City. While the City social media sites are administered by the City, the content on the sites is not entirely controlled by the City. The City does not endorse any links or advertisements on its social media sites placed by the site owners, their vendors or partners or members of the public. Agency Management Requirements 1.The City has the right to monitor employees’ social media use on City equipment and will exercise its right as necessary. Such users do not and shall not have an expectation of privacy. Social media is not a secure means of communication. 2.City Social Media Sites should make clear that they are maintained by the City and that they follow the City’s Social Media Policy. This Policy shall be displayed to users of and visitors to City Social Media Sites and/or be made available by hyperlink. The department director or designee will monitor content on City Social Media Sites to ensure adherence to both this Policy and the interests and goals of the City. 3.Comments posted to City Social Media Sites are subject to public disclosure and/or third party monitoring. Whenever possible, the following language shall be visible on walls or other City social media site pages: “The purpose of the City of Ukiah’s [page/site] is to provide general public information only. Should you need to request City services or if you require a response from the City, you must go to www.cityofukiah.com or call the City at (707)463-6200. Representatives of City of Ukiah communicate via this website. Communication on social media is not a substitution for reporting an emergency. In an emergency, dial 911. Consequently, any communication via this site (whether by a City employee or the general public) may be subject to California’s public records laws and subject to disclosure by the City if requested.” The Comment guidelines specified above must be displayed to all users/visitors to City Social Media Sites and/or made available by hyperlink. 4.The department director and/or designee shall monitor the City Social Media Sites established by that department during business hours for Comments requesting responses from the City and for Comments in violation of this Policy. SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANGER 3 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com 5. Any Comments removed based on the guidelines in this policy must be retained by the department director and/or designee for a reasonable period of time, including the time, date and identity of the poster, in accordance with the City’s policies on the retention of such information. 6. In the spirit of transparency, when the department director/designee receives messages through a private message service offered by the provider of a City Social Media Site, he/she shall request the senders of such messages to contact him/her at a public e-mail address maintained by City. Any private messages received by the department director/designee should be treated as constituent e-mails and therefore, as public records. The department director, his/her designee and any other authorized users should reply using their City e-mail account. Agency User Requirements City Social Media Site access shall be limited only to those City employees having a clear, City-related business purpose. 1. The use by any City employees of all social media sites, groups and pages used to disseminate official City of Ukiah information to the public are subject to the advance written approval of the City Manager or his/her designee(s) (Social Media Authorization and Agreement Form). City Social Media Sites shall be established, maintained and administered by a department’s director or designee with technical assistance to be provided as needed by City Information Technology (“IT”) staff to serve the social media needs of that department. 2. Employees representing the City government via City Social Media Sites must have a completed and signed authorization and agreement form on file prior to using any City Social Media sites. 3. This policy and City Social Media Authorization and Use Forms do not give authorization to City employees to establish or create City Social Media Sites, pages or groups. 4. Creation of “groups, pages or City Social Media sites” to support business goals is only allowed with pre-approval from the City Manager. 5. Employees representing the City government via City Social Media Sites must conduct themselves at all times in their use of the sites as representatives of the City and in accordance with all City policies, rules and memoranda of understanding. Failure to do so may result in discipline. 6. All use of City Social Media Sites by City employees (including use of non-City Social Media sites for communications related to City business) should be consistent with applicable state, federal, and local laws, regulations, and policies including all applicable City information SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANGER 4 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com technology security policies. 7. Wherever practical, staff shall verify facts, cite sources, present balanced views, acknowledge and correct errors, and check grammar and spelling before publishing posts. Staff shall not post information not authorized under this policy. The City reserves the right to restrict, remove or otherwise edit any materials posted by City staff on City social media sites or in their capacity as City employees that the City deems inappropriate. 8. Wherever possible, all City Social Media Sites should link back to the official City website for forms, documents, online services and other information necessary to conduct business with the City. The City’s websites (http://www.cityofukiah.com and https://www.ukiahpolice.com) will remain the City’s primary and predominant internet presence. 9. City Social Media Sites shall be managed consistent with California’s Ralph M. Brown Act. Members of the City Council, Commissions and/or Boards shall not respond to, “like”, “share”, “retweet” or otherwise participate in any published postings, or use City Social Media Sites, or any form of electronic communication to respond to, blog or engage in serial meetings, or otherwise discuss, deliberate, or express opinions on any issue within the subject matter jurisdiction of the body on which they serve. 10. City Social Media Sites are subject to the California Public Records Act. Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to City business, including a list of subscribers, posted communication, and communication submitted for posting, may be a public record subject to public disclosure and retention. There shall be no expectation of privacy in any content or Comments on City Social Media Sites. 11. Any comment removed for violating this policy shall be maintained in its original, unedited form. If content does not meet the comment policy, the entire item and as much detail as possible (names, dates and times of posting, etc.) shall be maintained in an offline format. For example, take a screenshot, include time and date and as many details as possible including reason for removal, then save to a Word document and file. 12. All City Social Media Sites shall utilize authorized City contact information for account set-up, monitoring and access. If payments are to be made (as in “boosting” a post on Facebook), charges must be made to a credit card and reported to the Finance Department within the regular billing cycle. 13. Authorized Users of City Social Media Sites shall review, be familiar with, and comply with the site’s use policies and terms and conditions. SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANGER 5 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com Comment Policy As a public entity, the City must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner. Therefore, users of and visitors to City Social Media Sites shall be notified that the intended purpose of the sites are to disseminate information from the City to its citizens about the City’s mission, meetings, activities and current issues. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any Comments deemed in violation of this Social Media Policy or any applicable law. Content that May Be Removed Includes: a. Content and/or language a reasonable person would find offensive, including but not limited to profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language; b. Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, religion, gender, gender expression, gender identity, disability, medical condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status or any other protected class; c. Personal attacks, insults, and/or threats to any person or organization; d. Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product/service for sale; e. Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law; f. Encouragement of illegal activity; g. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or h. Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party. i. Comments or hyperlinks unrelated to the topic of the discussion and/or forum. Users of and visitors to City Social Media Sites shall also be notified that: 1 A Comment posted by a member of the public on any City Social Media Site is the opinion of that member of the public only, and publication of a Comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City, nor do such Comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the City. SUBJECT: Social Media Policy ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY POLICY NUMBER EFFECTIVE DATE PAGE APPROVAL LEVEL: CITY MANGER 6 of 6 300 Seminary Avenue • Ukiah • CA • 95482-5400 www.cityofukiah.com 2 All Comments made to City Social Media Sites are public, not private. Comments of the department director/designee and any feedback by other employees or non-employees, including citizens, will be considered a public record and will be managed in accordance with the California Public Records Act and the City’s records retention policies. 3 The City reserves the right to deny access to City Social Media Sites for any individual who violates the City’s Social Media Policy, at any time and without prior notice. 4 Comments posted to City Social Media Sites are subject to public disclosure and/or third party monitoring. 5. All Comments posted to any City Facebook site are bound by Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, located at http://www.facebook.com/terms.php, and the City reserves the right to report any violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to Facebook with the intent of Facebook taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action. 6. This City Social Media Policy may be revised at any time.