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Social Media Policy

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Social Media Policy

  1. Purpose

    To address the fast-changing landscape of the Internet and the way residents communicate and obtain information online, City departments may consider using social media tools to reach a broader audience.

    The purpose of the City of Perris’ social media sites (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) is to provide content to community members about City services, events and activities. Questions, comments, and concerns from the public are welcome and encouraged, but please note these sites are not public forums.

    The City of Perris’ social media sites are meant to further the goals of the City and the missions of its departments. The City has an overriding interest and expectation in deciding what is “spoken” on its behalf on social media sites. This policy establishes guidelines for the public’s use of the City’s social media sites.

    For purposes of this policy, “social media” is understood to be content created by individuals, using accessible, expandable, and upgradable publishing technologies, through and on the Internet. Examples of social media include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, RSS, YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Nextdoor and Flickr. For purposes of this policy, “comments” include information, articles, pictures, videos or any other form of communicative content posted on a City of Perris social media site.

  2. General Policy and Guidelines
  1. All City social media sites are not public forums.
  2. The City Manager, or his or her designee, will monitor content on City social media sites to ensure adherence to this Social Media Policy.
  3. City social media sites must make clear that they are maintained by the City of Perris, that they follow the City’s Social Media Policy.
  4. Wherever possible, City social media sites should link back to the official City of Perris website for forms, documents, online services and other information necessary to conduct business with the City of Perris.
  5. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Social Media Policy or any applicable law. Any post or comment that is removed by the City pursuant to this Social Media Policy or any applicable law shall be retained pursuant to Section 4 of this Social Media Policy.
  6. These guidelines must be displayed on the City’s social media sites or made available by hyperlink.
  7. City social media sites are subject to the California Public Records Act. Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to City business, including a list of subscribers, posted communication, and communication submitted for posting, may be a public record subject to public disclosure.
  8. This Social Media Policy may be revised at any time.
  1. Policy for Public Use of City Social Media Sites

    The following policy shall apply to and be posted (either in its entirety or via hyperlink) on all City social media sites:

    “Policy for Public Use of City Social Media Sites

    For the purposes of this Policy, “comments” include information, articles, pictures, videos or any other form of communicative content posted on any City social media site.

    By posting or commenting on the City of Perris’s social media sites, you agree to the terms of use of the City of Perris’s social media comment policy as provided herein.

    1. As a public entity the City must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.

    2. The intended purpose behind establishing City of Perris social media sites is to disseminate information from the City, about the City, to its citizens regarding City services, events and activities. The City has an overriding interest and expectation in deciding what is posted on or communicated on behalf of the City on City Social Media sites. Questions, comments, and concerns are welcome and encouraged, but please note that this is not a public forum.

    3.To promote respectful discussion within this forum, we request that you be courteous and productive. By interacting with the City through any and all City Social Media sites, you agree to abide by this policy.

    4. Posts and comments including, but not limited to, any of the following inappropriate forms of content shall not be permitted on City of Perris social media sites and are subject to removal and/or restriction by the Public Information Officer or his/her designees:

  • Posts or comments that are off topic;
  • Posts or comments that contain offensive, obscene, inflammatory, unlawful, threatening, harassing, illegal, defamatory, slanderous, or hostile language towards any individual or entity;
  • Posts or comments that contain personally identifiable information. This refers to information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual. To protect your privacy, please do not share personal information;
  • Posts or comments that contain offensive remarks that perpetuate discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, or status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws;
  • Posts or comments that are defamatory or personal attacks;
  • Threats to any person or organization;
  • Posts or comments that promote or endorse particular services, products, political organizations, campaigns, candidates, or ballot measures;
  • Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;
  • Encouragement of illegal activity;
  • Content that infringes upon intellectual property.

5. A post or comment posted by a member of the public on any City of Perris social media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a post or comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City of Perris, nor do such posts or comments reflect the opinions or policies of the City of Perris.

6. City Departments shall monitor their social media sites for posts and comments in violation of this policy.

7. All posts and comments posted to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site are also bound by the respective social media site’s specific use policy, and the City reserves the right to report any violation of Facebook’s or any other social media sites use policy with the intent of taking appropriate and reasonable action.

8. By posting any content (e.g., a comment or post), a user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Perris, its officials, officers and employees, against any damages, losses, liabilities, judgements, causes of action, costs or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs) arising out of any claim by a third party relating to any material user has posted on the City of Perris’ Instagram, Facebook page, Twitter or any other social media site.”

  1. Records Retention

City social media sites contain communications sent to or received by the City and its employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to Government Code section 6250 et seq. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (for example, digital text, photos, audio, and video). Such public records shall be preserved pursuant to the City’s records retention policy for the required retention period in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible. Furthermore, retention of social media records shall fulfill the following requirements:

  • Social media records are captured in a continuous, automated fashion throughout the day to minimize a potential loss of data due to deletion and/or changes on the social networking site.
  • Social media records are maintained in an authentic format (i.e., ideally the native technical format provided by the social network, such as XML or JSON) along with complete metadata.
  • Social media records are archived in a system that preserves the context of communications, including conversation threads and rich media, to ensure completeness and availability of relevant information when records are accessed.
  • Social media records are indexed based on specific criteria such as date, content type, and keywords to ensure that records can be quickly located and produced in an appropriate format for distribution (e.g., PDF).

Digital Billboard

  • The City of Perris has a digital billboard on the City Hall Campus. The billboard is available to display messages for upcoming events for non-profit institutions. To have a bulletin displayed, please download the Digital Billboard form, read the instructions and fill it out. Send the form, along with the finished .jpeg to be displayed, to digitalmedia@cityofperris.org.