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unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.
## 1. Purpose
The purpose of this Policy is to maintain the integrity of the Town of Mahone Bay's presence in social media and to ensure social media is used appropriately and within the Town's guidelines and policies.
The Town may use social media tools in order to reach a broader audience and improve communications with the public. The Town's website (www.townofmahonebay.ca) will remain the Town's primary internet presence but the Town recognizes that social media can be useful in furthering its engagement goals and can serve to build a more robust relationship with the public.
## 2. Definitions
- a) "Town" means the Town of Mahone Bay;
- c) "Social Media" means websites through which users create online profiles to share information and communicate. These include but are not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin;
- d) "Moderated" means regular technical monitoring measures that prevent or ensure the timely removal of any defamatory or objectionable submissions, including information that jeopardizes the privacy of others;
- e) "Official Use" means use for Town purposes such as communication, information sharing, service delivery, collaboration and other purposes within the scope of the Town's mandate;
- f) "Personal Use" means use by an employee for purposes unrelated to official use;
- g) "Social Media Administrator(s)" the function of the Social Media Administrator shall be performed by the CAO or a designate. The Social Media Administrator(s) has a responsibility to ensure the appropriateness of content and policy compliance. Only the Social Media Administrator(s) has permission to create, publish or comment on behalf of the Town;
- h) "Removal" means to remove/hide posts from public view.
## 3. Overview
official use. This Policy applies to all Social Media Administrators when working with social media tools for
This Policy does not apply to social media sites of the Town's elected officials used solely for campaign and personal use.
This Policy does not apply to social media site of the Town's staff used solely for personal use.
## Town of Mahone Bay Social Media Policy
## Social Media Policy
## 4. Mission and Strategic Plan Objectives
This Policy supports the Town of Mahone Bay's mission "To provide high quality services to our vibrant and thriving community, through efficient and accessible government" by providing an efficient and modern means of disseminating information and supporting citizen engagement.
This Policy supports the Public Engagement portion of the Town's Strategic Plan by aiding in the process of developing a framework to engage the public in Council activities and decision making; improving communications and sharing of information with the public in a manner consistent with their needs; and creating opportunities for public engagement.
## 5. Policy Objectives
- a) Enable the Town to be more active in its relationships with citizens, partners and stakeholders.
- b) Encourage the appropriate and effective official use of social media by employees for municipal purposes.
- c) Ensure the use of social media by the Social Media Administrator(s) complies with all applicable laws and all municipal policies and procedures, including those related to the protection of privacy, capture and retention of records, security, respectful workplaces and employee code of conduct.
## 6. Policy Directives
- a) The Social Media Administrator(s) using social media for official use shall follow this policy.
- b) Personal social media accounts shall not be used to conduct official municipal business.
- c) The decision to create or initiate new municipal social media accounts must be approved by the Chief Administrative Officer. Approval shall be based on appropriate level of risk, particularly with respect to privacy and network security.
- d) Blogs, discussion forums or other social media initiated and/or created by, and within the control of, the Town must be moderated by the Social Media Administrator.
- e) The Social Media Administrator(s) using social media for official use shall be governed by all applicable laws and all municipal policies and procedures.
## 7. Management of Town Social Media
The Social Media Administrator(s) is responsible for:
- Reviewing all comments and questions and determining if a response is required;
- If a response is required, the Social Media Administrator(s) will respond in a timely manner during normal office hours, Monday - Friday, 8:30 - 4:30;
- Monitoring social media channels regularly for inappropriate content as it relates to the Town of Mahone Bay; and
## Social Media Policy
- Removing any posts that contain external replies or posts containing:
- Comments unrelated to the Town of Mahone Bay;
- Content that violates the Criminal Code of Canada or the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act;
- Obscene, racist, or otherwise discriminatory content;
- Sexual content or links to sexual content;
- Personal attacks, insults or threatening language;
- Plagiarized or copyrighted material;
- Confidential information published without prior consent;
- Content encouraging illegal activity;
- Content that supports or opposes a candidate for municipal, provincial or federal election, political campaigns, personal comments or opinion of Town Staff or Council Members or any personal opinions of political process;
- Comments determined by the Social Media Administrator(s) to be a specific attack on groups or individuals or to be inherently political in nature or cause;
- Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or
- Content that is commercial in nature and that attempts to endorse, advertise or sell the products or services of an individual, business or organization.
The Town of Mahone Bay reserves the right to remove any social media posts, on its social media channels, that it believes to be inappropriate in nature.
Any person who continues to post inappropriate or offensive comments will be permanently blocked from all Town of Mahone Bay social media channels.
Any requests to share third party information on a Town social media channel will be handled by the Social Media Administrator(s). The Town of Mahone Bay reserves the right to deny any request to share third party information. Only third-party information that is relevant and local will be considered for sharing.
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## Clerk's Annotation for Official Policy Book
Date of Notice to Council Members of Intent to Consider {7 days minimum notice}:
Date of Passage of Policy:
Clerk
May 14, 2019
June 11, 2019
June 24, 2019
Date