City of Kirkwood, MO Article XXXI Social Media Policy

§ E-3100 Social Media Policy.

[Ord. No. 10516, 9-20-2018; Ord. No. 10776, 10-6-2022; Ord. No. 10803, 4-20-2023]

A. Overview. With the rise of new media and next generation communication tools, the manner in which employees of the City can communicate, both internally and externally, continues to evolve. While this creates new opportunities for communication and collaboration, it also creates new responsibilities for our employees. This Social Media Policy applies to all employees who use the following (which is not intended to be an exhaustive list):

•	Social networking websites, examples of which include MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn®, Twitter and YouTube;
•	Blogs;
•	Instant messaging sites;
•	Wikis, such as Wikipedia and any other site where text can be posted;
•	Web bulletin boards or chat rooms.
All of these activities are referred to as "social media postings" in this Policy.

B. Scope of Policy. This Social Media Policy covers an employee's personal use of Social Media Postings and the sanctioned use of Social Media Postings for City business purposes.

C. Personal Use of Social Media.

1. This Policy section applies when an employee is using personal/home computers or other personal devices. The City takes no position on employees' decision to participate in the use of Social Media Postings. In general, employees who participate in Social Media are free to publish their own personal information. Any use of City computers or other City issued devices for personal Social Media Postings should generally be limited to lunch and outside (before or after) work time and only if the equipment is not needed for City business. Limited personal use is expected to occur but should not interfere with being productive or performing expected job duties.

2. Responsible Social Media Postings. Ultimately, an employee is responsible for what is posted online. Before creating online content, an employee should consider the risks and rewards that are involved, including how Social Media Postings may affect others who perform services for or are employed with the City. Harassment, intimidation or demeaning comments against such persons on social networking sites may result in discipline up to and including dismissal. Thus, the City encourages an employee to always be fair and courteous to co-workers, citizens, suppliers, vendors or other people who work on behalf of the City. Also, an employee should keep in mind that he or she is more likely to resolve work-related complaints by speaking directly with co-workers or by addressing the issue or problem with the Department Head than by posting complaints to a social media outlet. Nevertheless, if an employee decides to post complaints or criticism, he or she should avoid using statements, photographs, video or audio that reasonably could be viewed as malicious, obscene, threatening or intimidating, that disparages guests, coworkers, citizens, suppliers or vendors, that might constitute harassment or bullying or might violate any applicable law. Examples of such conduct include offensive posts meant to intentionally harm someone's reputation or posts that could contribute to a hostile work environment on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, national origin, ethnicity, pregnancy, religion or any other status protected by law or City policy.

3. Identification. If an employee chooses to identify himself or herself as a City employee on any Social Media network or site, either in words or in image, he or she must state in clear terms within any specific social media posting that the views expressed are the employee's alone and that they do not reflect the views of the City. No personal use of social media shall include any pictures or photographs of the employee wearing any City uniform or operating any City equipment. Employees are prohibited from acting as a spokesperson for the City or posting comments as a representative of the City.

4. Honesty and Accuracy. An employee should ensure that he or she is always honest and accurate when posting information or news. If an employee makes a mistake, it should be corrected quickly. An employee should be open about any previous posts that have been altered. It is important to remember that the Internet archives almost everything; therefore, even deleted postings can be searched. Never post any information or rumors that are known to be false about the City, co-workers, vendors or others working on behalf of the City. In short, the City expects its employees, when commenting on matters related to the City's business, services or programs, to exercise good judgment and common sense, consistent with the City's values of honesty, integrity and ethical behavior. Each employee should be mindful that any Social Media Posting may remain public for a long time if not indefinitely.

5. Right to Access. The City reserves the right to monitor Social Media Postings of employees. Any information that employees post on any social media may be accessed by the City at any time, without prior notice. The City prohibits taking negative employment action against any employee for reporting a possible deviation from this Policy or for cooperating in an investigation. Any employee who retaliates against a co-worker for reporting a possible deviation from this Policy or for cooperating in an investigation will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

6. Prohibited Activity. Employees may not disclose confidential information of any department, specifically including confidential information relating to ongoing investigations, or disclose confidential information of third parties who have provided information to any department, including Federal, State or local security/safety information, or disclose private personnel information or Protected Health Information as defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA").

D. Use of Social Media For City Business Purposes.

1. Social Media Uses. Social Media provides a new and potentially valuable means of assisting City departments and their personnel in community outreach for problem solving, investigations, crime prevention, recruiting, training, safety education and providing public awareness of the activities of City personnel in serving and protecting the interests of the City's residents and community.

2. Specific uses for City-sanctioned Social Media include but are not limited to:

a. Time sensitive notifications related to road closures, special events and weather emergencies.

b. Investigative tool for law enforcement when seeking evidence or information about missing persons, wanted persons, crimes perpetrated online such as cyber bullying or cyber stalking, unsolved crimes through solicitation of tips and posting of photos or videos of a crime by a participant or observer.

c. Alerting the public to the effective law enforcement services of the police department and the effective rescue and fire protection services provided by the City's Fire Department.

d. Obtaining information as a recruitment mechanism for persons seeking employment or volunteer positions with the City.

3. Rules Applicable to City-Sanctioned Use of Social Media.

a. All Social Media Postings are subject to all existing City policies, including, for example, the City's Equal Employment Opportunity, Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy, Workplace Violence Policy, Computer/Internet/Email/Text Policy and Wireless Telecommunications Usage Policy.

b. Social Media Postings containing obscene or sexually explicit language, images or acts and statements or other forms of speech that ridicule, malign, disparage or otherwise express bias or are harassing, demeaning toward City employees, City officials, vendors or others who perform services and work with the City is prohibited.

c. There is no expectation of privacy with Social Media Postings sanctioned by the City. The City reserves the right to monitor use of its devices or networks and to retrieve all Social Media Postings. The City reserves the right to block access from its networks for Social Media Postings at its sole discretion.

d. Employees may not disclose confidential information of any department, specifically including confidential information relating to ongoing investigations, or disclose confidential information of third parties who have provided information to any department, including Federal, State or local security/safety information, or disclose private personnel information or Protected Health Information as defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA").

e. No employee shall divulge information gained by reason of his or her authority, make any statements or publish any materials that could reasonably be considered to represent the views or positions of any department, without express authorization to do so.

f. No information shall be disclosed which is likely to identify the specific location or identification of any person subject to an emergency call for law enforcement assistance.

g. No employee shall disseminate or transmit in any fashion photographs or images of individuals receiving emergency medical assistance. The City is the owner of any photographs or electronic images taken by the Fire Department or law enforcement personnel within the scope of employment. Any such photographs or electronic images must be turned into the proper department authority.

h. The use of social media does not alter or change the emergency or life safety report protocols currently in place. Social Media should not be used in place of the Emergency Operations Center (9-1-1).

i. The establishment and use of any City-Sanctioned Social Media sites are subject to approval by the Chief Administrative Officer and applicable Department Head. All City Social Media sites shall be administered by authorized administrators of the respective department.

j. City Social Media sites should explicitly state they are maintained by the City and that they follow the City's Social Media Policy, with links to such Policy on the official City web site.

k. Wherever possible, City Social Media sites should link back to the official City and departmental websites for forms, documents, online services and other information necessary to conduct business with the City.

l. The authorized administrators will monitor content on City Social Media sites to ensure adherence to both the City's Social Media Policy and the interests and goals of the City.

m. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Social Media Policy or any applicable law. Comments on topics or issues not considered to be within the relevant concerns of the City may be removed.

n. The City will approach the use of Social Medial tools as consistently as possible among different departments.

o. The City's website at www.kirkwoodmo.org will remain the City's primary and predominant internet repository of accessible online information.

p. All City Social Media sites shall adhere to applicable Federal, State and local laws, regulations and policies.

q. Any content maintained in a Social Media format that is related to City business may be considered a public record subject to public disclosure. This may include a list of subscribers (excluding any information of a personal nature), posted communication and communication submitted for posting.

r. No employee should conduct political activities or private business through any Social Media Posting.

s. No employee should post private facts or personal information about someone without his or her permission that has not been previously revealed to the public, is not of legitimate public concern or would be offensive to a reasonable person.

t. No employee shall use someone else's name, likeness or other personal attributes without that person's permission for an exploitative purpose; or publish the creative work of another, trademarks or certain confidential business information without the permission of the owner.

u. This Social Media Policy may be revised at any time.

4. Designation of Employees.

a. The following guidelines apply to designation of employees to use any sanctioned City Social Media site.

i. Designated employees representing the City government via City Social Media sites must conduct themselves at all times as a representative of the City and in accordance with all City policies. Any such designated City employee who alters, comments or accesses any City Social Media site is to conduct himself at all times as a representative of the City and, accordingly, shall adhere to all City/department standards of conduct and observe conventionally accepted protocols and proper decorum.

ii. Employees designated to represent individual department's interests on the City site are to be approved by the Department Head and submitted to the Chief Administrative Officer for approval.

iii. The use of department computers by designated department personnel to access Social Media for personal use is prohibited.

iv. Designated department personnel use of personally owned devices to manage the department's social media activities or in the course of official duties is permitted.

v. Such designated employees are to identify themselves as a member of the applicable department within the City.

E. Public Comment Policy.

1. As a public entity the City must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.

2. The intended purpose behind establishing City Social Media sites is to disseminate information about the City to its citizens.

3. Public comments containing any of the following inappropriate forms of content shall not be permitted on City Social Media sites and are subject to removal and/or restriction by the authorized administrators:

a. Comments not related to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;

b. Profane, obscene, violent or pornographic content and/or language;

c. Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, color, age, religion, sex or national origin;

d. Defamatory or personal attacks;

e. Threats to any person or organization;

f. Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns or ballot measures;

g. Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;

h. Conduct in violation of any Federal, State or local law;

i. Encouragement of illegal activity;

j. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or

k. Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright of any party.

4. A comment posted by a member of the public on any City Social Media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only. Publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City or that such comments reflect the opinions or policies of the City.

5. The City reserves the right to deny access to City Social Media sites for any individual who violates the City's Social Media Policy, at any time without prior notice.

6. City employees are not permitted to respond to any public comment on behalf of the City without prior approval of the Chief Administrative Officer.