Social Media Terms of Use

Social Media Comments Policy

Policy

Fredericksburg City is committed to open and transparent communication between the City and its residents, business community, visitors, and other members of the general public. The City will communicate to its constituents using a variety of accepted tools, including social media. in order to ensure that communications are accurate, consistent, and professional, the City will authorize specific individuals to use social media in an official capacity.

Purpose

The purpose of Fredericksburg City’s official social media platforms is to provide information of public interest to the City’s residents, business community, visitors, and other members of the general public. We encourage you to submit our questions, comments, and concerns regarding the posted topics and share the City’s information with your network; however, please note that these are moderated online discussion sites. Please read the following policy fully and carefully.

Comment Removal*

The City reserves the right to remove, or refuse to approve, comments which are;

  1. Unrelated to the post at hand;
  2. Profane, vulgar, or obscene;
  3. Expressing or implying threats of violence;
  4. Illegal or encourage illegal activity;
  5. Promoting, fostering, or perpetuating 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;
  6. Constituting harassment or abuse;
  7. Commercial solicitation or spam, or link to another website;
  8. Compromising public safety;
  9. Promoting a product, service, or political candidate;
  10. Repetitive (“spam-like”) posts, comments, or direct messages by a single user, including repetitive comments published across multiple posts or comment threads;
  11. Infringing on copyrights or trademarks; and/or
  12. Including phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or similar information.

Violators of this policy may have their comments removed from the City’s official social media platforms. After the removal, the violator will be reminded to be respectful of the comment policy, as reasonably possible, and encouraged to comment again with respect for this policy. Continued or egregious violations of this policy may prompt the City to further restrict an individual’s commenting on official City social media platforms.

Disclaimers

  1. Fredericksburg City is not responsible for the content provided on “related” and “promoted” photographs and videos that are accessible from social media platforms. All viewers should note that these related photographs and videos, and the comments expressed on them, do not reflect the opinions and position of the Fredericksburg City government or its officers and employees.
  2. Please note that social media platforms have their own rules of conduct; therefore, social media platforms may independently remove comments or ban users. Fredericksburg City is not responsible for those actions.
  3. Many social media platforms provide non-public routes to contact official Fredericksburg City social media accounts; however, please note that those conversations are public records and subject to Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests.
  4. All posts and comments are archived.
  5. In its sole discretion, the City may create posts on its social media platforms that do not allow for comments from the public.
  6. In its sole discretion, the City may use an automated filter that prevents profane, vulgar, or obscene comments from being posted on the City’s social media platforms. The City is not responsible for removing, or refusing to approve, comments restricted by the filter.
  7. This policy provides social media best practices and requirements, and is regularly updated to address changes in the digital space. 

We recognize that social media is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage our staff resources efficiently, we generally only monitor comments and postings during regular business hours. If you have any questions concerning the operation of this online moderated discussion, please contact the City Manager’s Office (540) 372-1010 or citymanager@fredericksburgva.gov.

*Comment removal guidelines are applicable to all social media posts on Fredericksburg City social media platforms including, but not limited to, posts, videos, and photo