Social Media Policy

Statement of Purpose

The Village of Oswego recognizes that social media has become a popular way to disseminate information to a wide audience. The Village has chosen to utilize social media platforms to share information and enable interaction with the public. For purposes of this policy, “social media platform(s)” shall mean any of the Village of Oswego accounts or online services that allow for interaction with Village residents and other users, including, but not limited to, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This policy shall be posted on all Village social media platforms pages, as well as the Village’s website.

The Village’s social media accounts are not monitored at all hours and should not be used to communicate urgent problems. For emergencies, dial 9-1-1.

Limited Public Forum

The Village’s social media platforms constitute a limited public forum with First Amendment protections for commenters. The Village does not make its social media platforms available for general public discourse, but rather reserves and limits the topics that may be discussed on the social media platforms to the topics of the underlying post(s) made by the Village. As such, the Village reserves the right to reject or remove content in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Whenever possible, the Village will take steps necessary to protect the public’s First Amendment rights on social media.

Administration of Accounts

A designated administrator, or administrators, will be responsible for maintenance and supervision of each social media platform of the Village. Each administrator will be knowledgeable of the terms of this Social Media Policy and will review content to ensure it is in compliance with this Policy.

Comment Policy

Social media platforms not only provide the government with a communications venue but often allow for public comment. Any comment made by a member of the public as a social media user is that user’s opinion only. Publication of the comment on the Village’s social media platform(s) does not imply endorsement or agreement by the Village nor reflects the opinions or policies of the Village.

The following forms of content are in violation of the policy, may not be posted on the Village’s social media platforms, and will be subject to removal and/or restriction by the administrator.

1. Off-topic from the Village’s underlying post.
2. Content or language that is a personal attack, insult, defamatory, threatening, or profane.
3. Promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation, or any other protected class.
4. Content or language that is sexual, pornographic, or obscene, or which links to sexual or obscene content.
5. Information which may compromise safety or discloses confidential government information, sensitive information, or personal information relating to government officials and employees, or members of the public.
6. Content or language that encourages illegal activity or violates any federal, state, or local law.
7. Content or links for spam, phishing scams, malware, viruses, or fraudulent activity.
8. Solicitation or promotion of commerce.
9. Anything that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright or trademark.

Each particular private social media platform maintains a “Terms of Use” agreement. All comments posted to any Village social media platform are bound by those Terms of Use agreements and the Village reserves the right to report any user violation to the respective social media platform.

Content Removal

Content that is found to violate this Policy will not be tolerated and will be removed from the Village’s social media account(s) as technology permits. Comments will not be removed, deleted or hidden by the Village of Oswego because of the speaker’s point of view, opinion or other form of protected speech. The Village further reserves the right to deny access to any Village social media platforms if any individual or organization violates this Policy.

Record Retention

Content that is removed from the Village’s social media platform(s) constitutes a public record under state law. The removed content shall be retained pursuant to both the Village’s records retention guidelines and state law, along with a description of the specific reason for which the content was deleted.

Accessibility

When possible, and as technology allows, staff will make every effort to ensure that photos and videos posted to social media accounts are accessible to all, including those with visual or auditory impairments, by using available alt text, closed captioning or other assistive features.

Time of Use

The Village’s social media platforms are not monitored 24/7, and as such, posts and responses should not be immediately expected. Accounts are traditionally monitored during normal business hours, designated as weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding holidays.

Compliance with Laws

All Village social media platform users shall adhere to applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies. Content posted on any Village social media platform by any user may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, record retention laws and e-discovery laws.