This policy will be considered at the 11/16/16 Council meeting
1. PURPOSE AND APPLICATION
The purpose of this policy is to establish Town of Churubusco (Town) general standards and responsibilities for the acceptable use of social media. The policy governs the use, administration, management, monitoring, and retention of social media and social media content, consistent with state, federal and Town regulations. This policy applies to all uses of social media by Town employees maintaining, using, or providing oversight of social media tools. Employees include, but are not limited to, full-time and part-time employees, contractors, interns, and volunteers who access or contribute content. This policy also applies to members of the public who comment or otherwise interact with the Town through its social media websites.
All content created, received, transmitted, stored on, or deleted from Town information systems is exclusively the property of the Town or, to the extent provided by applicable law, of the person or entity that created or owns the copyright or trademark rights to that content.
2. BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS
When used in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies as well as prudent operational, security, and privacy considerations, Web-based social media tools can (at little to no cost)
• Enhance the speed, reach, and targeting of communications (particularly during disaster/emergency incidents)
• Facilitate collaboration
• Improve information exchange between residents and employees
• Increase citizen engagement and dialogue
• Streamline processes
• Foster productivity improvements
• Increase the Town’s ability to broadcast messages to the widest possible audience (town, region, nation, world)
3. DEFINITIONS
“Social media” means and includes Internet technologies that facilitate and promote interactive communication, participation, and collaboration. Examples of social media include, but are not limited to, the web sites and applications Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Meetup.com, Flickr, YouTube, Yelp, Second Life, and Wikipedia, and the interactive tools and functions they provide to users.
“Authorized social media user” or “authorized user” means and includes any Town employee, contractor, consultant, vendor, and any other Town employee responsible for the use, administration, management, monitoring, and/or retention of social media, social media tools or web sites, and/or social media content, in the name of or on behalf of the Town or any Town agency.
“Social media content” means and includes any materials, documents, photographs, graphics, and other information that is created, posted, distributed, or transmitted using social media Internet sites or social media tools.
4. STANDARDS FOR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
All uses of social media on behalf of the Town or any Town agency, or in any manner that appears to represent the Town or constitute communication by the Town, must comply with the following standards.
a) Agencies and agency heads
(i) No agency may establish, use, or terminate a social media identity, account, profile, page, or site (collectively, social media account(s) or account(s)) without the approval of the Town Council (Council) or its designee.
(ii) Agency heads, with the approval of the Council, shall designate one or more agency employees to be the authorized social media user(s) for the agency. Only the agency’s authorized social media user(s) shall be authorized to post social media content on the agency’s social media account(s) and may have access to the agency’s social media accounts that permit such posting.
(iii) Agency heads shall establish a procedure for approving, prior to posting, and shall issue agency guidelines for, all social media content that is posted on the agency’s social media accounts, including the designation of one or more agency managers (who may also be agency authorized social media users) to be responsible for the approvals. All Agency social media guidelines and policies must be consistent with this policy, and must be approved by the Council or its designee.
(iv) No information or link (hyperlink) to any Internet site or other materials or communications may be posted, or approved for posting, on an agency social media account that is not directly related (as determined by the agency head) to the mission, services, and business objectives of the agency.
(v) Agency social media pages must clearly identify the pages as created and managed by the agency, identified as a department, office, commission, or agency of the Town of Churubusco.
(vi) Agency social media sites must prominently display, on the first page accessible to site visitors, links to the Town’s official Internet site www.townofchurubusco.com.
b) Employees
(i) No Town employee may establish any social media account in the name of or on behalf of the Town or any Town agency unless:
(1) the Town Council or designee and the user’s agency head have all approved the account; and
(2) all information to be posted on the account is approved in accordance with Subsection a) above. This requirement applies regardless of whether the account is established, accessed, or used by means of Town information systems or by means of the employee’s or others’ information systems, and regardless of whether the account is established, accessed, or used from Town or non-Town premises.
(ii) Social media accounts established by the Town or a Town agency are to be used for Town and agency business purposes only. Use for communications and postings that are not directly related to a Town or agency business purpose is prohibited.
(iii) Employees must report unauthorized uses of Town social media or Town social media accounts to the head of their agency and the Council or designee.
(iv) Employees are expected to be attentive and careful in their use of social media. Employees should be aware that their use of social media may be perceived as representing the Town and Town government, and should tailor their use accordingly.
(v) Unacceptable uses.
The City considers the activities and uses of social media listed below to be unacceptable. Employees are prohibited from engaging in any of them on a social media account established by the Town or a Town agency.
i. Using social media in a manner that does not comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations, and with Town and agency policies.
ii. Using social media in a manner that:
1. Violates the copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity, or otherwise violates their legal ownership interests;
2. Includes ethnic slurs, profanity, personal insults; material that is harassing, defamatory, fraudulent or discriminatory; or other content or communications that would not be acceptable in a Town workplace under Town or agency policy or practice;
3. Violates the terms of contracts governing the use of any social media content, including but not limited to, software and other intellectual property licenses;
4. Displays sexually explicit images, cartoons, jokes, messages, or other material in violation of the Town’s Sexual Harassment policy;
5. Violates I.C. 4-15-10-2 relating to “Political Activities”;
6. Contains confidential or “for official use only” information or information that compromises the security of Town networks or information systems. Such for official use only or confidential information includes, but is not limited to, information that is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) or other federal, state, or local laws and regulations (except as permitted under such laws and regulations), as well as social security numbers and other personally identifiable information;
7. Violates the terms of use governing the social media account.
This list is not exhaustive. Questions about particular uses of social media or particular social media content should be directed to the Town Council or its designee.
(vi) Personal social media accounts.
This policy is not intended to govern employees’ establishment or use of personal social media accounts for personal purposes, outside the workplace and using non-Town information systems. However, some such personal uses of social media may reflect on the Town or appear to represent Town policy or to be on behalf of the Town. In addition, accessing and using personal social media accounts by means of Town information systems is subject to Town policy. For these reasons, Town employees are expected to comply with all Town and agency polices, as well as the following standards, when using personal social media accounts.
i. Town employees have no right to privacy with respect to their personal use of social media or personal social media accounts accessed by means of Town information systems, or with respect to personal social media content so accessed. They should not expect or assume privacy or confidentiality with respect to any such personal social media use or social media content.
ii. Postings and user profiles on personal social media accounts must not state or imply that the views, conclusions, statements or other social media content are an official policy, statement, position, or communication of the Town of Churubusco, or represent the views of the Town or any Town officer or employee, unless the head of the user’s agency or Town Council or designee have granted express permission for that user to do so.
iii. If a Town employee has not received such express permission, any user profile, biography, or posting on a personal social media account that identifies that person as a Town employee must include a qualifying statement in substantially the following form: “The views I express on this site are my own and do not reflect any official view or position of the Town of Churubusco.”
c) Interactive Communications; Notices to Site Visitors
i) A Town or agency social media site or page may be a “limited public forum” under the First Amendment if visitors to the site are able to post comments or other communications. Where permitted by the operator of the site, the comments and similar functions should be disabled on Town and agency social media pages, unless the agency head or Council or its designee determine that permitting or encouraging interactive communications with site users is necessary to carry out the business objectives of the agency in creating the site.
ii) If interactive communications (e.g. comments) are permitted, terms of use for visitors to the site must be posted prominently on the site, unless prohibited by the terms of use governing the social media account or prevented by the site. The terms must include:
i. A clear description of the topics that the site is intended to address and that may be addressed in comments, with a statement that user postings will be removed if they are not directly related to those topics;
ii. Statements substantially similar to the following:
1. Communications posted by visitors on this site may not contain ethnic slurs or profanity; material that is harassing, defamatory, fraudulent, discriminatory or sexually explicit; or any material that infringes copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. Any such communications may be removed at any time without notice.
2. This site is not owned, controlled, or operated by the City or the agency. Visitors to the site must comply with the terms of use and privacy policies of the site operator, and are subject to the site operator’s practices regarding the collection and retention of passive information (e.g. cookies) and other information from and about visitors.
3. Any advertisements appearing on the site are not controlled by the Town or the agency and do not reflect endorsement by the Town or agency.
4. Opinions expressed by visitors to the site do not reflect an endorsement or opinion on the part of the Town or agency.
5. All postings by visitors to the site may be retained by the Town, in its discretion and as required by applicable law or Town policy.
6. All postings may be subject to public records and disclosure laws, as well as discovery in litigation. This includes, but is not limited to, information made available through a user’s privacy settings on their own social media and other Internet pages.
7. Visitors to the site should have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality with respect to any content they post to the site, and the Town and agency have no responsibility for maintaining any such privacy or confidentiality.
(iii) The content of communications posted by site users may not be edited or otherwise modified; removal is the only action that may be taken, and then only for communications that violate the terms of the statements under subsections i. and ii. above.
4.1 Information Requirements
Agency heads must submit a list of all social media accounts maintained by the agency to the Council or designee including, at a minimum, the following information:
(1) the name, hosting site and Internet address and date of inception for the account, and a statement of the purpose and scope of the agency’s use of the account;
(2) all user names, passwords, and other log-in credentials for the account;
(3) all authorized social media users for the agency that have access to and/or responsibility for the account; and
(4) the administrative contacts and contact information for the account. The agency head must promptly notify the Council or designee any changes in any of the foregoing, and of any new agency social media accounts or pages and any termination of accounts or pages.
Agency heads shall ensure that all agency-approved social media accounts and social media content are periodically reviewed for compliance with this policy. Agency heads are responsible for all social media content created, received, transmitted, stored, deleted, destroyed, and/or printed in the name of or on behalf of the Town or the agency.
4.2 Records Retention
Social media content is subject to the Records Retention and Destruction Schedule established by the Indiana Commission of Public Records, whether or not the social media is currently posted on the agency’s site(s). Agencies are responsible for making and retaining such postings, as required by the State’s Records Retention and Destruction Schedule.
5 COMPLIANCE
Each agency head shall be responsible for enforcing compliance with this policy by agency employees. Employees who violate this policy, or any other Town or agency policy, may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, in accordance with the disciplinary policies of the employee’s agency and of the Town. If a Town contractor or third party user knowingly or negligently commits or permits a material violation of this policy, the Town may terminate the contract in accordance with its terms, and/or terminate the contractor’s or third party user’s access to Town information processing facilities, information systems, and information, in addition to any legal or remedial actions the Town may take to enforce and protect its interests.
6 GETTING MORE INFORMATION
Questions about this policy and other information security matters should be addressed to the Churubusco Town Council or its designee.
