Social Media Policy

Purpose

Because many of our citizens and other stakeholders utilize social media for news and communications, the City of Pompano Beach has developed its own social media accounts, which help us inform the public about our resources, services and events.

The City of Pompano Beach has an important interest in assuring the accuracy and consistency of information associated with our social media accounts. We also respect the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the rights outlined in our state constitution, and the right to freedom of speech. These terms and conditions establish guidelines for the public’s use of our social media accounts that balance all these values.

Definitions

1. “Social media” means content (text, images, audio, links, or video) created or shared by us and communicated on our online accounts. The platforms on which we have created these accounts allow sharing, commenting, and other engagement. Examples of social media accounts we may use are Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
2. “Comments” include any content (text, images, audio, links, or video) posted to one of our social media accounts by a user.
3. “User” means a member of the public who views or interacts with one or more of our social media accounts.

General Guidelines

1. These terms and conditions apply to all our social media accounts. Where possible, a link to these terms and conditions will be made available as a hyperlink or posted as text somewhere on our social media accounts.
2. Users should know that social media posts we make (as well as comments and replies to those posts, and any direct or private messages sent to us) may be public records subject to applicable public records release.
3. Our social media accounts are not monitored 24/7 and no one should utilize our social media accounts to seek emergency services. Anyone in need of emergency help should call 9-1-1.
4. We do not guarantee we will respond to comments or messages sent on our social media accounts.

Expectations

The City of Pompano Beach believes that honest, civil, and productive discussions provide the best environment for citizens to understand the work of their government and participate in constructive engagement. That’s why we ask users to consider that our social media accounts may be viewed by children and other impressionable people. Please avoid profanity, personal attacks, bullying, or use of incorrect information.

Content Moderation

1. Limited Public Forum. Our social media accounts are created and maintained as limited public forums under federal caselaw pertaining to the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution. We invite members of the public to view and, where possible, provide comments or other engagement on our social media accounts. However, the law permits us to hide and/or delete comments that are not protected speech under the First Amendment and relevant federal caselaw. We will not hide or delete comments solely because such comments are critical of our organization, its officials, or its employees.
2. Prohibited Content. Relevant First Amendment caselaw permits us to hide or delete certain comments on our social media accounts. The following comments may be hidden or deleted:
   1. Comments directly advocating violence or illegal activity.
   2. Comments containing direct criminal threats as defined by local, state, or federal law.
   3. Comments containing obscenity, which is defined as sexually explicit and/or pornographic content that is patently offensive, appeals to prurient interest, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
   4. Comments that directly promote or advocate for our organization to illegally discriminate based on race, age, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other legally protected class if such comments violate local, state, or federal law.
   5. Comments containing links to malware and/or malicious content that affects the normal functioning of a computer system, server, app, or browser.
   6. Duplicate comments posted repeatedly within a short period of time.
   7. Comments containing actual defamation against a person, either as determined by a court or comments that are patently defamatory by easily discovered facts. When a public figure is the target, the poster must act with actual malice for the comment to be defamatory.
   8. Comments that contain images or other content that violate the intellectual property or copyright rights of someone else, if the owner of that property notifies us that the property was included in a comment on our social media account(s).
   9. Comments that contain a hyperlink to any website other than those managed by the City of Pompano Beach. This will be done without regard to the viewpoint of the comment containing such a link or the content of the site to which the link redirects.
3. Retention. When a comment containing any of the above content is posted to one of our social media accounts, an electronic record of that content will be archived pursuant to our records retention policy.
4. Blocking a User. A warning will be issued to a user in violation of the above prohibited content. Upon the second offense, we will notify and then block the user from the social media account where the violations occurred.