RIVER FREE LIBRARY DISTRICT
POLICY IN EFFECT AS OF DEC. 8, 2021
I. INTRODUCTION
- This policy provides guidelines for the use, management, administration and oversight of ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY-owned social media for official use. It also provides guidelines for employees’ personal use of social media both at work off-duty.
- Social media come in many forms and include any method that facilitates electronic communications, including internet forums, blogs, online profiles, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, email, instant messaging, music sharing, voice over IP, as well as social websites or online communities for business and personal use, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Google+, Flickr, Pinterest, Path, Picasa, Twitter, message Boards and chat rooms, among others.
II. ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY MEDIA ACCOUNT ACCESS
- Creation and use of social media forums on behalf of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY are allowed when there is a clear public entity purpose.
- All ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY -MEIDA is overseen and managed at the department level by authorized supervisors.
- These employees must conduct themselves at all times in accordance with all applicable ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY policies.
- All posts on ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY social media must be in accordance with this policy and must be monitored by the department. Departments must be able to edit or remove content in violation of this policy.
- Authorized employees must not share personal information about him/herself, other ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY employees, patrons or citizens on the social media.
- Whenever possible, ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY social media should link back to the official ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY website elkriver.lili.org. for forms, documents, online services and other information for conducting business with the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY.
- Content on social media forums must abide by all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and policies, including copyright, trademark and printed material laws.
III. SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
- Users of ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY social media forums must be notified on the forum site that:
- The intended purpose of the forum is to serve as a medium for communication between the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY and members of the public;
- Submission of comments by members of the public constitutes participation in a limited public forum;
- A comment posted by a member of the public is the opinion of the poster only;
- Publication of the comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY; and
- Comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY unless expressly stated by an authorized user.
- Comments on the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY’s social media forums shall only be allowed when comments are consistent with the provisions of this policy.
- Posts and comments containing any of the following inappropriate forms of content are not allowed:
- Comments not topically related to the particular post, thread, topic or article being commented upon;
- Profane, obscene, sexual or violent language or content, or links to such;
- Defamatory or personal attacks;
- Threats of harm to any person or organization;
- Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by law;
- Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising for any business or product for sale;
- Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns, candidates or ballot measures of any kind;
- Encouragement of illegal activity;
- Conduct that violates any federal, state, or local law;
- Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
- Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any person or entity, such as trademark, patent or copyright; or
- Confidential or proprietary information.
- If activity listed in 4, 8, 9 or 10 occurs, employees must secure the information and notify the Clearwater County Sheriff department.
- Comments complying with these rules must be allowed to remain, regardless of whether they are favorable or unfavorable to the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY DISTSRICT.
- The ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY may edit, restrict or remove, in whole or in part, any content that violates this policy or applicable law. Content that is edited or removed must be retained in accordance with the relevant records retention schedule. This content must be accompanied by a description of the reason it was edited or removed, the date and time of edit or removal, and the identity of the person posting the content, if available.
- The ELK RIVER FREE LIBARY may deny access to ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY social media at any time and without prior notice to any person who violates these content guidelines.
- These content guidelines must be displayed on the social media site or made available by a link to the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY’s official website.
IV. PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY EMPLOYEES
- Employees may access social media while at work within the parameters of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBARY’s policies. They must limit use to personal time, such as breaks, lunch periods and when off-duty. It must not interfere with, or be disruptive to, ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY business or the employee’s job duties.
- If an employee speaks about job-related content on personal social media, or refers to the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY, people may perceive that the employee is acting on behalf of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY DISTRICT. When making such statements, the employee must clearly state that the statements are the employee’s personal views and are not the views of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY. An example of such disclaimer is “The views, opinions, ideas and information expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer and are not in any way attributable to ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY.”
- Participation in social media, whether through ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY DISTSRICT or non-ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY internet resources, and whether made while on or off duty, must not violate the privacy rights of other employees, customers, citizens or business partners.
- When participating in social media, employees must not violate any ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY policy.
- Employees may be disciplined, up to and including termination, for engaging in inappropriate social media activity while either at work or away from work that impacts the work of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY, the employee or any other ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY employee. Examples of inappropriate social media activity includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
- Promoting or taking part in activities which violate federal, state or local law;
- Making false or misleading statements about any ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY employee, the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY, ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY customer/patron, business partner, vendor or supplier;
- Making disparaging remarks toward or about any ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY employee, the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY, ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY customer, business partner, vendor or supplier that are based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by law;
- Using social media to bully, threaten harm, harass, discriminate or retaliate against any ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY employee, customer, business partner, vendor or supplier;
- Posting content or making comments that purport to express the opinions of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY.
- Nothing in this policy grants an individual right to, or may be construed to provide, an expectation of privacy, including while engaged in personal social media:
- Persons who use social media should be mindful that once content is placed online, it is no longer under their control and content shared through private social media does not always stay private.
- Employees have no expectation of privacy while using ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY digital equipment or facilities for any purpose, including the use of email or other electronic communications of any kind, to download, transmit, post, comment or store information.
- Regardless of password use and privacy settings, and without notice to the employee, the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY may retrieve, review, monitor or log internet usage and content found on ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY systems and digital equipment.
- Employees are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites about matters of public concern as long as their speech does not impair working relationships within the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY, impede the performance of duties, impair harmony among co-employees or negatively affect the public perception of the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY.
- Employees are cautioned that speech on- or off-duty, made pursuant to their official duties, is not protected speech under the First Amendment and may form the basis for discipline if deemed harmful to the ELK RIVER FREE LIBRARY.