SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
A. Purpose
Due to the rapid growth of the public’s use of social media, the City of Cotati has a business need to augment traditional communication methods with the use of social media. This Social Media Policy (“Policy”) is intended to guide the proper use of the City of Cotati’s social media accounts and establish policies, protocols and procedures related to the use of social media.
The purpose of this Policy is to:
1. Establish a limited public forum for First Amendment purposes; and
2. Promote the City use of social media to enhance community engagement; and
3. Permit City Employees to properly use official City social media sites as described in this policy to further the business of the City.
The goals of the City of Cotati’s use of social media are:
1. To increase the public knowledge, trust, and use of City services; and
2. To promote the value and importance of City services among and between governing officials, civic leaders, and the general public; and
3. To maintain open, professional, and responsive communication with members of the public and the media.
B. Definitions
1. “Social media”. Social media shall mean third-party hosted websites or applications for discussion or information sharing, including, but not limited to, web-culture communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, photo and video sharing sites, wikis, tagged websites, and blogs. Examples include, but are not limited to, Google Plus and Yahoo Groups, Wikipedia, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Meetup, Multiply, Snap Chat, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, My Life and similar, and news media sites with comment sharing capabilities.
2. “City Employee”. For the purpose of this Policy, City Employee shall mean permanent, probationary, temporary employees (full or part time), officers, elected or appointed officials, volunteers, and City contractors, vendors, and consultants with authorized access to the City’s official social media account(s).
C. Policy Statement
It is the policy of the City of Cotati that City-maintained social media sites are the sole possession of the City and shall be used only for official business purposes.
This Policy applies to all City Employees as defined herein. Social media is used as a tool to communicate and users have the responsibility to use these resources in an efficient, effective, ethical, and lawful manner.
D. Responsibility
The City Manager must expressly authorize in writing the implementing of any City social media programs or activities. The City Manager will authorize specific City Employees to use of the City’s official social media platforms. Separating City Employees will provide social media account and log-in information to their department head or human resources prior to their separation.
The department head and/or his/her designee shall monitor department-generated content to ensure compliance with this Policy. In addition, City Employees who add content to the City’s social media sites are responsible for complying with all applicable federal, state and municipal laws, policies and regulations. This includes, but is not limited to, adherence to established laws and policies regarding the California Public Records Act, First Amendment privacy laws, records retention policies, City Personnel Rules and information security policies.
Disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will be taken against any City Employee who is found to have violated this Policy.
E. Policy
1. City Website
The City of Cotati’s official website (www.ci.cotati.ca.us and www.cotaticity.org) shall remain the primary and predominant Internet presence. All City of Cotati social media sites should include one or more links that direct users back to the City website.
2. Appropriate Uses of Social Media Sites
The most appropriate uses of social media sites fall into three categories:
i. As channels for disseminating time-sensitive information as quickly as possible, such as news, project and emergency information; and ii. Marketing and promotional channels for increasing the City’s ability to broadcast messages to the widest possible audiences; and iii. Community news of general interest.
3. Branding
The design of all City of Cotati social media pages must be approved by the City Manager or his/her designee. The City Manager’s Office shall maintain a master list of social media sites. Departments shall not establish individual social media accounts.
The City Seal/logo shall be used on all official social media sites used for this purpose.
Any changes or additions to official City of Cotati seals, logos and other branding devices shall be incorporated into official social media sites.
Photos and other images may be posted only when they are the property of the City of Cotati or the owner has provided consent for use.
4. Posting on Social Media Sites
The City Manager and/or designees shall be the only City Employees authorized to post official City information on social media sites. When using the City’s official social media sites, City Employees will act in a professional manner by:
i. Being aware that what is written will not only reflect on the writer, but also on the elected officials of City of Cotati and other City Employees. ii. Understanding that comments posted by City Employees in an official capacity on social media sites, whether administered by the City or on other agency and/or individual social media sites, shall include appropriate identifying information and any other pertinent information within the context of the virtual interaction. iii. Not engaging in any of the following:
a. Commercial promotion (except as part of a City program) b. Illegal activity, or promotion of illegal activity
c. Threats or implied threats or incitement that could result in physical harm or property damage
d. Pornography, profanity or obscenity
e. Copyright violations
f. Hate speech
g. Conduct contrary to written City policies or applicable laws h. Content that compromises safety/security of the City or the public i. Disclosure of confidential information
j. Discussion of or disclosure of any confidential personnel matter k. Defamatory statements or personal attacks
iv. Not providing information related to pending City decisions that would compromise negotiations or decisions or including such information as part of content added to a site.
v. When in doubt about the appropriateness of content, it is best to refrain.
Employees should think of social media in the same manner as writing on a wall in public with the addition of their name and address attached to everything written. There are no truly anonymous postings to social media, nor permanent means to remove content or reverse mistakes.
vi. Understanding that workplace speech (speech made by a public employee in the course of carrying out his or her official duties, rather than as a private citizen) is not fully protected by the First Amendment. City Employees are held individually responsible for understanding whether their speech, workplace or not, is protected by the First Amendment.
vii. Understanding that City Employees are prohibited from engaging in debate in an official capacity on social media sites. Employees who encounter inappropriate situations or abuse in virtual environments in an official capacity should immediately leave the social media site and report the situation to a supervisor. viii. Bringing misrepresentations regarding the City of Cotati on social media sites to the attention of the supervisor for potential clarification.
5. Public Records/Discovery/Record Retention
Materials, comments and direct messages posted by City Employees on social media sites in an official capacity may be treated as official correspondence and may be subject to disclosure in accordance with the California Public Records Act or discovery in legal cases. Posted materials, comments, and direct messages that are otherwise protected from disclosure or are not public records do not lose such status as a result of disclosure on a social media site.
As technically feasible, materials, comments and direct messages on the City’s social media sites shall be retained in accordance with the City’s record retention policy.
6. Brown Act Compliance
To ensure compliance with the Brown Act, members of the City Council and City advisory bodies are to refrain from responding to any published postings, or from using the social media sites to respond to, blog, engage in serial meetings, or otherwise discuss, deliberate, or express opinions on any issue within the subject matter jurisdiction of the body, including the use of a “like”, emoji, or any other method of expressing an opinion.
7. Administration of Social Media Accounts
Prior to establishing any pages on social media sites in an official capacity, employees must (1) receive approval from the City Manager, (2) read this policy and agree to abide by the guidelines and (3) contact the City Manager’s Office regarding the purpose of the social media site, the primary audience, the type of content that will be conveyed on behalf of the City of Cotati, and a time frame for the project.
The City Manager shall work in conjunction with the City Attorney to review each requested social media site’s terms of use prior to creating an official presence on a given social media site. If the City establishes a social media account, the City Manager or designee shall establish the primary administrative account(s) for each social media site.
The City of Cotati reserves the right to remove postings placed on official City social media sites that the City deems, in its sole discretion, to constitute crimes (such as threats of violence), and / or that otherwise violate Federal or State law in accordance with the City’s Social Media Terms of Service, attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference. The City Manager or designee may amend from time to time the Social Media Terms of Service as deemed necessary to keep up with technology while maintaining the goals of the City’s use of social media. The Social Media Terms of Service will be posted on all official City social media sites, as technically feasible, to establish a limited public forum for First Amendment purposes.
In addition, the City Manager also reserves the right to terminate or suspend any City social media site.
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