Social Media Policy

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Policies and Procedures on Social Media Usage (also available in the City's Employee Personnel Manual). Information in the manual also includes employee personal social media use and off-duty social media use.

INTRODUCTION

The City of Leavenworth encourages the use of appropriate social media technologies to enhance communication, collaboration and information exchange. These technologies are evolving rapidly and are shaping how we work with our customers, business partners, other government agencies and the public.

City officials and City organizations have the ability to publish articles, facilitate discussions and communicate information related to conducting City business through various media. Social media facilitates further internal and external discussion of City issues, operations and services

• by providing members of the City staff and public the opportunity to participate in numerous ways using the internet.

These policies and procedures include the use of social media technologies hosted outside of the City of Leavenworth servers, social media technologies hosted on internal City servers and individual user's responsibilities when accessing social media services in either environment.

These policies and procedures provide guidelines on how to establish and maintain a City of Leavenworth social media site and apply to all employees who engage in social media on behalf of the City. There are also a set of recommendations for City employees who participate in social media outside of the workplace. The purpose of this policy is to out ine expectations of  employees with respect to their use of social media and social networking and the direct effect such use has upon the reputation and perception of the City.

The City is hereby establishing policies and procedures for the use of social media and social networking sites in support of City goals and objectives.

POLICY

1. City employees interested in initiating any social media site or tools for their department shall consult with their department head and fill out Attachment A - Social Media Request Form.
2. All City of Leavenworth social media sites shall then be:
   1. Approved by the requesting Department Head, Public Information Officer and the City Manager. Social network administrators for each department will have to also be approved and granted access to the technologies and sites by our system analysts.
   2. Published using an approved City social networking platform. Administered by the Public Information Officer and the designee(s) within the department. Designees can be any department employee designated by the requesting Department Head that has a complete understanding of this policy and has appropriate content and technical experience as long as they are also approved through the City Manager.
   3. All City of Leavenworth social networking sites shall adhere to applicable state, federal and local laws, regulations and policies including all City Technology Policies and other applicable City Personnel Policies.
   4. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law.
   5. Each City of Leavenworth social networking site shall include, whenever possible, an introductory statement, which clearly specifies the purpose and topical scope of the site. Where possible, social networking sites should link back to the official City of Leavenworth website for any forms, documents or further information.
   6. City of Leavenworth social networking content and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed for posting:
      • Comments not topically related to the particular site or blog article being commented upon;
      • Profane language or vulgar 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 or sexual orientation;
      • Personal attacks of any kind;
      • Sexual content or links to sexual content;
      • Solicitations of commerce or endorsement of commercial products, unrelated to city goods and services;
      • Endorsement of political parties, candidates or groups;
      • Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
      • Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
      • Information on City-related legal proceedings or controversies, including communications with City attorneys.
      • Disclosure of, or speculation on confidential financial, technical or operational information pertaining to the City;
      • Citing or referencing City clients, partners or suppliers without their approval;
      • Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
      • Any other content that can discredit or negatively affect the reputation or perception of the City.
   7. All City social media administrators shall be trained regarding the terms of this policy, including their responsibilities to review content submitted for posting to ensure compliance with the policy.
   8. All social media administrators should respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws. Do not post others' material, for example photographs, articles or music, without ensuring they've granted appropriate permission.
   9. All social networking sites shall clearly indicate they are maintained by the City of Leavenworth and shall have City of Leavenworth contact information prominently displayed.
   10. Employees representing the City government via social media outlets must conduct themselves at all times as a representative of the City and in accordance with all City Personnel Policies.
   11. Government content on any site is generally public domain and therefore cannot become the intellectual property of an individual or be protected by a site provider. Care must be taken to not create the appearance of a copyright on a government created work, unless specifically permitted by statute.
   12. City websites are prohibited from using persistent cookies and other web tracking methods unless their use has been approved by the PIO and City Manager for compelling need.
   13. City Social Media pages will be updated with statute required postings, such as those from the Americans with Disabilities Act, Assistive Technology Act, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board and the Workforce Investment Act, as needed, by the department administrator or Public Information Officer.
   14. In order to ensure password security, all City employees are to adhere to the following procedures:
   15. Create a strong password​​​​​​​
       • Make your password at least eight characters long. Use both upper and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters.
       • Use your password safely.
       • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Create different passwords for different accounts and applications. If one account is breached, your other accounts won't be at risk too.​​​​​​​
       • Never use your City password for online shopping sites or free email accounts.
       • Never enable the "Save Password" option, even if prompted to do so. Pre-saved passwords make it easy for anyone else using your computer to access your accounts.