The City of Frankfort Social Media Policy

CITY OF FRANKFORT

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY OVERVIEW

The City of Frankfort, Indiana (hereinafter the “City”) views social media as a tool to keep its residents and the general public informed as to matters impacting the City. The City’s Social Media Policy, effective as of June 10, 2024 (hereinafter “Policy”) establishes guidelines for the general public’s interactive use of City Social Media Accounts (defined within the Policy). The City has an overriding interest and expectation in protecting the integrity of the information posted on its Social Meia Sites (defined within the Policy) and the content that is attributed to the City, and its officials.

The Policy applies to all members of the general public interacting with City Social Media Accounts. The City reserves the right to change, modify, or amend all or part of the Policy at any time deemed necessary or appropriate, without notice. By commenting, posting, or engaging on a City Social Media Site the user hereby agrees to abide by the Policy and the terms of use of the Social Media Site.  Users participate at their own risk and recognize that by engaging with City Social Media Accounts, the user is solely responsible for the content they provide or post. 

Rules for Use of Social Media:

Each Social Media Site has its own policies and standards concerning what may or may not be posted and the actions that it may take regarding unauthorized posts. All social media content (photos, videos, text, etc.) posted by users interacting with City Social Media Accounts shall comply with the terms and conditions of each Social Media Site, the City’s Policy, as well as all applicable local, state, and federal laws. The City reserves the right to monitor, moderate, restrict, block, suspend, terminate, delete, or discontinue user accounts or access to its City Social Media Accounts without notice, for any reason, and at its sole discretion.

All City Social Media Accounts are to be maintained in a professional manner, reflecting the City’s values at all times. The City shall monitor content on all City Social Media Accounts to ensure adherence to this Policy. The City reserves the right to reject or remove user generated content that violates any of the following criteria:

• Profane language or content.
• 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, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
• Sexual content or links to sexual content.
• Solicitations of commerce.
• Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity.
• Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public system.
• Content that violates the legal ownership interest of any other party.
• Content that defames or slanders another person.
• Promotion or advertisement in favor of, or in opposition to a political campaign or candidate.
• Apparent spam.
• Content posted by automatic software programs (i.e. “bots”).
• Information which may interfere or compromise current investigations, police tactics, and safety of police staff and officers.
• Copyrighted material if posted without copyright holder’s consent.

Public Records Act:

The content of any City Social Media Account, including material posted by the City or communications received from the public, may be a public record as defined in Indiana Code. All social media content must be appropriately archived. Users should have no expectation of privacy when interacting with City Social Media Accounts. All user content is subject to public access laws. 

Disclaimer:

The City does not endorse or assume liability for any content posted by third party users.  The City disclaims liability for advertisements, videos, promoted content, or comments posted by the general public on City Social Media Accounts. Any comment posted by a member of the public on any City Social Media Accounts is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and inclusion or exclusion of content does not imply endorsement of, opposition to, or agreement by the City, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the City, its employees, or elected officials.

 Click to view the entire The City of Frankfort Social Media Policy