Purpose

The Village of Itasca adopts this policy to govern the use of its social media accounts by the public. This policy outlines the Village's primary objective for its social media accounts, which is to communicate to the public on matters related to Village events and news. 

Definitions

• Comment: A response to a Village posting or social media content submitted by a commenter.
• Commenter: A member of the public who submits a comment in response to specific Village posting or social media content, including links to other websites or social media sites or profiles.
• Posts or a posting: Content, information, articles, pictures, videos, or any other form of communication shared on a Village social media site by the Village.
• Social Media Sites: Websites and applications enabling users to share information, including, but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs, forums, discussion boards, and other platforms used for communication or content sharing, encompassing text, music files, movies, photographs, and electronic files.

Limited Public Forum

The Village's social media platforms are considered limited public forums. The Village does not provide its social media platforms for general public discourse but confines discussions to topics related to the Village's posts. The Village reserves the right to reject or remove comments and other content that violates this policy or any applicable law. To protect the public's First Amendment rights on social media, the Village will take necessary steps whenever possible.

Comment Policy

Because social media interactions represent a limited public forum, the Village reserves the right to reject or remove (if feasible) any content in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Content and comments on Village social media accounts containing any of the following elements are prohibited from posting and may be subject to removal:

• Comments that are off-topic or include links to off-topic material.
• Comments that include hyperlinks of any kind or direct visitors to view or refer to content from any other source.
• Content or language constituting personal attacks, insults, defamation, threats, obscenity, or profanity.
• Content promoting discrimination based on race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.
• Sexual content or links to sexual content.
• Solicitations of commerce.
• Information that may compromise safety, disclose confidential government information, sensitive data, or personal information regarding government officials, employees, or the public.
• Charitable solicitations or political campaigning.
• Encouragement or conduct related to illegal activity.
• Spamming or repetitive content, such as posting the same content more than twice in the same location.
• Content infringing upon a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright or trademark, of any party.

Each specific social media platform maintains a "Terms of Use" agreement. All comments posted on any Village social media platform must comply with these Terms of Use agreements, and the Village reserves the right to report any user violations to the respective social media platform.

Content Removal

Content that violates this policy will be removed from the Village's social media accounts. Any content falling under the category of prohibited content, as outlined in the defined criteria, will be preserved by capturing a screenshot and accompanied by a memo that explains the rationale behind the content's removal.

Hours of Use

The Village's social media platforms are not monitored 24/7, and as a result, posts and responses should not be expected immediately. Users are advised against using the Village's social media accounts to report crimes or emergency situations. Crime reports and requests for police, fire, or emergency medical assistance should be made by dialing 9-1-1. Accounts are traditionally monitored during regular business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays.

Compliance with Laws

All Village social media platform users must 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 rules.