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Section: Administration
Policy: A09-CORP-001 Social Media
Effective Date: April 18, 2024
Revised Date:
1.Purpose
1.1 This policy outlines the responsibilities for authorizing, establishing, and managing
corporate social media platforms. Additionally, it establishes usage guidelines
within the Township of Malahide organization.
2. Policy
2.1
The Township's website is the primary source of online information exchange with
the public and is the Township's official internet presence. The Township supports
the open and transparent use of social media to further corporate goals and
objectives where appropriate. The Township leverages social media platforms to
facilitate engagement and communication by sharing information with the public
and other audiences.
2.2
This Policy outlines guidelines for utilizing social media tools to maintain a balance
between sharing timely and accurate information while adhering to the
Corporation's need to ensure:
a) The use of social media tools does not compromise public safety or the
Corporation's image;
b) The information disseminated through the social media sites on behalf of the
Township reflects corporate and community values;
c) Social media content does not violate individual privacy or conflict with existing
municipal policies and by-laws; and
d) Social media content maintains the highest levels of accuracy, objectivity,
transparency and impartiality in the information communicated.
3.Policy Compliance
3.1 This Policy applies to all municipal employees, council members and individuals
who represent the Township, specifically in the role of a social media coordinator.
The social media coordinator is tasked with updating content on the Township's
social media platforms and pages
4.Site Administration
4.1
The use of all Social Media sites by the Municipality will adhere to:
a) Applicable provincial and federal laws, regulations;
b) The Terms of Service of each Social Media site; and
c) All applicable corporate policies, guidelines, and by-laws, including, but not
limited to: applicable Administrative and Human Resources policies,
Information Security policies and Records Management policies and bylaws.
5.Social Media Management Responsibility
5.1
The Clerk will serve as the centralized resource for the oversight and use of social
media platforms for business of the Township of Malahide, as well as for the
creation and maintenance of content on those sites. The administrative staff of
each department will also assist with the creation of content for social media
platforms. Municipal employees acting as social media coordinators for the
Township must adhere to the guidelines of this policy.
5.2
Final approval for the use of existing or new social media accounts by the
Township will be the responsibility of the CAO and Clerk to protect the Township
from the rapidly changing social media environment, the CAO, Clerk or his/her
designate may also amend the attached Schedule 'B' and Schedule 'C'.
5.3
All social media sites affiliated with the Township will be regularly screened by
Township employees. All postings which are deemed to be inappropriate as
outlined in Schedule B will be removed at the earliest opportunity.
5.4
Any content that is deemed inappropriate or does not adhere to this Policy must
be immediately brought to the attention of the Clerk and or CAO.
6.Personal Use of Social Media
6.1
Employees are encouraged to follow the Township's social media accounts and
use their personal accounts to share positive stories about their coworkers,
programs and services.
6.2
Even if employees do not identify themselves as Township of Malahide employees
on their personal websites, blogs or social media profiles, employees must act
according to the Township's Code of Conduct.
6.3
The Township does not expect or encourage employees to deliver customer
service on behalf of the Township using personal accounts. If there are questions
about Township programs or services, they should be directed through social
media, the Township website, by phone, or via email.
6.4
The Township does not expect or encourage employees to use personal accounts
to respond to questions or comments about Township programs, services,
decisions or policies on media websites, people's blogs, community-run social
media groups or pages, or other public forums.
6.5
When employees are online, they are in public and are expected to serve the public
with integrity, honesty and respect. Employees must not share private or
confidential information, or any other content that reflects poorly on them, their co-
workers or the Township of Malahide.
6.6 Opinions expressed on an employee's personal website, blog and/or social media
account do not reflect the official position of the Township of Malahide.
7.Council/Committee/ Board Members
7.1 Members of Council are welcomed and encouraged to participate in social media,
through their own accounts, while respecting the Conduct of Members of Council,
as outlined in the Council Code of Conduct Policy. Members of Council are
encouraged to follow official Municipal sites and to share content.
8.Records Management and Retention
8.1
Social Media posts on Social Media sites moderated by the Township may only be
destroyed in accordance with the Records Retention By-law. Posts that are
considered to be Transitory Records of the Municipality may be deleted/ purged
from the website as soon as they are no longer needed.
8.2
Third-party social media sites are private businesses with their own terms of
service and privacy policies. The Township does not accept any responsibility for
the operation of third-party social media sites and is unable to guarantee the
privacy of individuals who access content provided to such sites by the Township.
SCHEDULE 'A' - Social Media
General Terms of Use
Availability
As time permits, the social media coordinator or delegate will update and monitor active
social networking platforms during regular office hours, 8:30 am-4:30 pm, Monday to
Friday. The Township may schedule promotional messages after business hours or on
weekends. The platform may occasionally be unavailable and the Municipality accepts
no responsibility for lack of service due to downtime of the service.
Privacy
Unless obligated to by applicable law, by-law, legislation, or to demonstrate negative
behaviour from a user, Malahide Township does not capture or record the contact details
of parties interacting with its social media accounts. Any information identified and
deemed confidential or private is treated in accordance with MFIPPA.
Social Media Coordinator
Designated staff will respond where applicable to appropriate comments and inquiries (as
per the subsequent section of this policy) that are generated by the public as a result of
content posted on social media sites used by the Township during business hours. Every
attempt for a timely response will be made.
Staff are expected to always act in the best interest of the Township, demonstrating a
positive, professional, honest, ethical, and fair demeanour that aligns with this policy and
associated policies.
Posting and Comment Policy
Posting on a social media site does not constitute official notice or an official complaint
submission to the Township of Malahide. Unless otherwise noted in applicable policies,
contact through a social media platform does not constitute formal feedback or
consultation.
The standard method to communicate with the Township is to contact staff by either
phone or via email. The contact information is available on the municipal website, in the
"Contact Us" section.
The Township may reply to questions or comments if:
-
the post asks a sincere question about a Township service, program or policy
-
the post includes inaccurate information - the Township may provide a correction
The Township may not reply to questions or comments if:
-
the post includes respectful statements of opinion - people are welcome to
express their views even if they disagree with Township policies, programs or
decisions
-
the post is respectful, and directed at other participants in the conversation
The Township of Malahide reserves the right to remove inappropriate posts and
comments from its social media platforms. Inappropriate posts and comments are
outlined in 'Schedule B'.
Disclaimer
The Township is not responsible for comments made by subscribers or members
related to its social media applications.
Decommissioning
If a social media platform no longer fulfills the Corporation's requirements, it will be
decommissioned.
SCHEDULE 'B' - Social Media
Content Standard Guidelines
Introduction
Malahide's social media channels serve as an additional source of municipal information,
aiming to offer an informal source of information. The platforms are operated with the
sole purpose of complementing formal procedures and sharing valuable community
information, that may not be within the scope of the formal processes and procedures.
The provided guidelines aim to help identify suitable content for posting or keeping on the
site.
Internal/External
The Township invites people impacted by and interested in our work to post, share,
discuss and debate the subjects of Township posts on its social channels with the
Township and each other while treating each other with respect.
The Township will not tolerate posts or comments that:
-
are unrelated to Township services, programs, or projects or to the subject of the
post the comment was made on, or are unintelligible or irrelevant;
-
are offensive to an individual (including Township staff or a representative of the
Township) or organization, or are profane (including inappropriate language),
hateful or defamatory, insulting, rude, abusive, aggressive, or violent;
-
promote, foster or perpetuate any form of discrimination;
-
contain content of a sexual nature or links to such content;
-
conduct or encourage illegal activity;
-
are aimed at soliciting business or for marketing purposes;
-
contain spam;
-
invade privacy, e.g., share information about any identifiable individual including
photographs of, information about, or views and opinions of that individual;
-
could compromise public safety, security, or Township operations, including
comments that contain misinformation or disinformation;
-
violate a legal ownership interest of any other party;
-
impersonate or misrepresent someone else, including public figures, Township
staff, or Township officials; and
-
do not add to the normal flow of conversation, dialogue, or debate
The Township of Malahide is not responsible for any use of Township content or materials
by other users.
The Township may ask users to refrain from posting inappropriate comments, or mute,
block or ban users for violating these social media commenting guidelines
Sharing/Following Guidelines
Posts for the purposes listed below will be permitted, including but not limited to:
- Municipal sponsored events and activities;
- Municipal services;
- Public Health and Safety (i.e. road closures, inclement weather, etc.);
- Emergency Services;
- Community events and/or community group events, which are open to the public
and where membership is not required to participate in the event;
- Public Service Announcements from other government agencies; and
- Recognition of local achievements
SCHEDULE 'C' - Social Media
Social Media Accounts
Malahide Social Media Accounts
The Township of Malahide will utilize the following social media platforms:
- Facebook
- Instagram
- LinkedIn
- X (formerly Twitter)
*This list can be adjusted by the CAO and Clerk as they will keep updated on
developments and determine whether to create new social media accounts for the
Township to ensure its presence remains current in the ever-evolving social media
landscape.