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Municipality of the County of Richmond - Social Media Policy
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Title
Social Media Policy
Approved by Council
Date: January 31, 2024
Policy Review Notification
Date: January 15, 2024
Policy Review
Date: November 6, 2023
I certify this to be a true copy of the Social Media Policy as adopted by the Municipal
Council of Richmond County at a Public Meeting held on January 31, 2024.
_____________________
Shelley David
Municipal Clerk
1.
Purpose
1.1. The purpose of this policy is to identify roles and responsibilities, establish
guidelines and standards for the establishment, and administration of
Municipal managed social media sites.
2.
Policy Statement
2.1. The Municipality will use social media as a communication channel used to
reach a broader audience as outlined in the Strategic Communications Plan.
3.
Scope
3.1. This policy shall apply to all Municipal Staff who are authorized to post
information in an official capacity on Municipal managed social media sites.
3.2. These guidelines apply to all municipal service areas and cover officially
established, publicly available, and Municipality-managed social media
accounts. These guidelines do not require the establishment of social media
accounts, nor do they apply to the use of social media on a personal basis or
cover use of social media for political or internal government purposes.
4.
Guiding Principles
The following principles will guide the social media practices of the Municipality:
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Municipality of the County of Richmond - Social Media Policy
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4.1. Value - to encourage the safe, creative, and effective use of social media
by municipal staff by providing a framework for the application of the
policies and guidelines that oversee social media use.
4.2. Quality of Service - to improve communication and public engagement
through the presentation of information and knowledge that is timely,
accurate, and relevant.
4.3. Transparency - to present information to the public in a way that is easily
discoverable and readily accessible, and presents the Municipality in a fair
and reasonable manner.
4.4. Respect - to ensure that social media interactions are conducted in a
manner that conforms to the same professional and ethical standards
required in the workplace.
4.5. Integrity - to ensure that municipal staff and Council conduct themselves
honestly and appropriately on social media sites, respecting the laws of
copyright infringement, software licensing, property rights, security, and
privacy.
4.6. Accountability - to require that all municipal staff and Council are
responsible for understanding and following the relevant policies and
procedures affecting the use of social media.
4.7. Legislative - to adhere to applicable provincial, federal and municipal laws,
regulations and policies.
5.
Definitions
5.1. Social media includes all online technologies and practices used to share
information, express opinions, and build relationships. It can involve a variety
of formats, including text, pictures, video, audio, and real-time dialogues. It
includes, but is not limited to, such things as social networks (e.g., Facebook,
Twitter), media-sharing (e.g., YouTube, Flickr), webcasts (e.g., RSS,
podcast), and collaborative media (e.g., wikis, blogs). Not all forms of social
media may be appropriate for use by the Municipality.
5.2. Contributor refers to any staff of the Municipality (full and part-time,
members of Council, and all other municipal advisors or consultants using
corporate resources) who creates content that is posted to any of the
Municipality's social media accounts.
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5.3. Subscriber refers to members of the public who receive or access content
from a social media account. Different forms of social media may have
specific jargon for this concept (e.g., Facebook "Friends", Twitter
subscribers are known as "followers"). Subscribers may submit comments
for posting in response to content. All comments are reviewed prior to
being posted on Municipal social media sites.
5.4. Moderator refers to an authorized municipal staff person who reviews,
authorizes, and posts content submitted by staff contributors and public
subscribers on a Municipality-managed social media account.
6.
Responsibilities
6.1. The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for:
a)
Administering and implementing the Social Media policy, and;
b)
the approval to create or initiate new municipal social media accounts
based on the Strategic Communications Plan and on appropriate level of
risk, particularly with respect to privacy and network security.
6.2. The Communications Officer is responsible for
a)
Managing municipal social media accounts and working with contributors
and moderators to ensure content remains in compliance with the social
media guidelines, as outlined in this policy, and;
b)
identifying necessary revisions to the Social Media Guidelines in
consultation with the CAO and Department Heads.
6.3. Directors are responsible for:
a)
Ensuring that service area staff are advised of the approved Social Media
Guidelines of the Municipality, and;
b)
acting or appointing another staff member, to act as the Moderator
responsible for reviewing, authorizing, and posting content submitted by
staff contributors and public subscribers to a Municipal-managed social
media account, and review site activity and content daily for exploitation
or misuse.
7.
Monitoring
a)
Municipal social media accounts are monitored periodically Monday to Friday
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Updates, postings, subscriber content approvals,
and responses deemed necessary will typically occur during those hours.
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b)
Information requests made through social media platforms is not considered
official, and the public is directed to email or call the Municipal Office.
8.
Terms of Use
8.1. The Municipality's website (www.richmondcounty.ca) will remain the primary
source of online information exchange with the public and is the Municipality's
official internet presence. Where possible, social media posts shall link back to
the Municipal website for the purpose of downloading forms, documents, and
providing specific or additional information.
8.2. Use of social media for municipal purposes falls under the same legal and
ethical standards as any other means of communication with the public on
behalf of the Municipality of the County of Richmond ("the Municipality").
8.3. Municipal representation
a)
Only staff who is given authorization to act as a designated
representative by their service area managers may post content in the
name of the Municipality of Richmond to any social media site.
Contributors and moderators of the Municipality are required to identify
themselves honestly, accurately, and completely when participating in
social media.
b)
Other staff may participate in social media in the course of business
when relevant to their duties, but they do so as individuals representing
themselves through personal social media accounts, not representing
the opinions of the Municipality.
8.4. Appropriate content
a)
Only information that is publicly available may be posted to social media
sites. It is unacceptable to publish or report on conversations or
information that is confidential, pre-decisional, or speculative.
b)
Content from contributors and public subscribers containing any of the
following shall not be allowed for posting:
i
comments that are not topically related to the site or article being
commented upon;
ii comments that are repetitive or spam;
iii posts that are meant to solicit sales, products, or goods and
services;
iv profane language or inflammatory content;
v content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination
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on the basis of race, creed, colour, age, religion, gender,
marital status, physical or mental disability, or sex orientation;
vi sexual content or links to sexual content;
vii encouragement of illegal activity;
viii information that may compromise the safety or security of the
public or public systems.
c)
Content that is deemed by moderators to be unsuitable according to the
above criteria shall be removed and retained along with a description of
the reason that the specific content was deemed unsuitable for posting.
i.
Any person who continues to post unsuitable content as outlined in
8.4 (b), will be permanently blocked from all Municipality of the
County of Richmond social media channels.
9.
Copyright, fair use, and privacy laws
a)
Communication through social media is subject to all relevant provincial, federal
and municipal laws, regulations and policies.
b)
Any content posted to a third-party social media site is ultimately owned and
controlled by the site operator according to its established terms of use.
Policy Review/Amendment Schedule
Date of Review
Formally Advertised and Amended by Council
May 14, 2012
Adopted
July 26, November 6,
December 4, 2023, and
January 15, 2024
Review
January 31, 2024
Adopted
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