City of Elk Grove Social Media Policy

The City of Elk Grove (City) has established social media sites to provide community members with accurate, relevant and timely information about the City and to create a mechanism for communication about the City's current events between City staff and the public. The social media sites used by the City are a very limited public forum and must conform to the policy herein. The City of Elk Grove's website (www.elkgrovecity.org) is and will remain the City's primary and predominant online presence and is not a forum of any kind for the public. Outside postings to the City website are not allowed. The following policy applies to the City of Elk Grove Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube pages.

The City of Elk Grove intends to promote effective communication and maintain a respectful dialogue. In that spirit, the rules for posting external comments on social media sites are strictly enforced. Our moderators use these rules to ensure that posted comments are suitable for all readers, while respecting a range of opinions and points of view. Posted information and comments on City of Elk Grove social media pages must comply with the following regulations:

1. Comments must be civil and may not contain potentially libelous, malicious, offensive, threatening, profane images or language, including but not limited to those indecent words that were the subject of F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978).
2. Comments won't be allowed that compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
3. Content that 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 are not permitted.
4. Advertising or promotional announcements are not permitted.
5. Comments must be within the scope of the topic under discussion.
6. Comments cannot include personally identifiable information, such as an address, phone number, social security number or other sensitive information.
7. Comments cannot be of an obscene or pornographic nature or include links thereto (including images that contain nudity or are of a sexual nature).
8. Comments cannot represent a person other than the one posting the comment.
9. Comments containing links to other web sites or pages must be relevant to the topic.
10. Comments cannot serve electoral campaign purposes. Political messages will not be published except for announcements of City elections or voter encouragement campaigns.
11. Comments encouraging illegal activity are not permitted.
12. Participants are responsible for what they post. Comments must not breach any law, confidentiality, or violate a legal ownership interest of another party.
13. External comments and posts to the City's social media sites do not reflect the opinions and policies of the City, its officials, or employees.

The administrator/moderator may remove any and all postings and comments at the administrator/moderator's sole discretion. City of Elk Grove staff will post to and monitor discourse on its social media sites during regular business hours, Monday through Friday.

Postings on this social media site are not retained by the City. However, please be aware that, under certain circumstances, content appearing on this page may be subject to the California Public Records Act and subject to disclosure by the City if requested. This may include information about you that you make available through your privacy settings on this site, and on your own pages.

Comments by external parties on City social media pages are not official public testimony concerning any project or program.

An opinion expressed on a City social media page is posted for discussion only and is not a substitute for a formal statement in a public hearing process.

All users of a City of Elk Grove social media site are also subject to the site's own privacy policy. The City of Elk Grove has no control over a social media site's privacy policy or their modifications to it. The City of Elk Grove also has no control over content, commercial advertisements, or other postings produced by the social media site that appear on the City of Elk Grove social media site as part of the site's environment. The City of Elk Grove assumes no liability for any inaccuracies these social media sites may contain and does not guarantee that the social media sites will be uninterrupted or error-free.

The City does not respond to service requests and other press inquiries on the social media sites. If you have a question, concern or comment, we encourage you to visit www.elkgrovecity.org or call 691-CITY (2489).

Questions concerning the use and operation of the City's social media sites should be directed to the City's Public Affairs Manager