2. Social media rules
We encourage you to have your say by commenting on our social media posts.
We won’t censor comments - even if they are critical of the council.
However, we do have a few rules everyone must follow and will remove posts that don't meet these standards.
Respecting others
Bullying of any kind will not be tolerated.
Anyone making abusive, discriminatory or offensive comments will have them removed and they will be blocked from posting on our channels.
Please note any comments implying discrimination will also be removed.
Strictly no swearing
While you may be passionate about subjects we post about, swearing and offensive language will not be tolerated.
Some of our social channels have a profanity filter that may automatically delete your comment or post, however any swearing or offensive language that slips through the net will be removed completely and any repeated offenders will be blocked.
Please keep it clean.
No commercial advertising
There are many community groups that allow local businesses to advertise their goods and services, however commercial advertising is not permitted on our channels.
We are happy to promote partner organisations, charities or voluntary groups that align with the council’s values and policies.
Comments, posts or visual content containing links promoting private businesses will be removed without notification.
From time to time, we may speak about commercial businesses but these will only be in the context of editorial output and not in the context of advertising or promotion.
Law breaking
We will remove, without notice, anything potentially libellous or any content that breaks the law, including breaches of copyright.
We will also remove any allegations of criminal activity or posts that could hamper an individual’s right to a fair trial.
Politics
In line with election laws and our stringent policies on bullying and harassment, we reserve the right to remove overly political comments made on our social media channels, whether positive or negative.
No 'flame baiting'
Posts and comments aiming solely to provoke heated and emotional responses will be removed, and users may be blocked if the comments are prolific or deemed serious.
No trolling
Where posts or comments are off-topic, insulting or use threatening remarks to upset another user, group of users, council employees or member, will be removed and users will be banned from commenting.
Vexatious complaints
While we recognise some issues may not get resolved on first contact with us, on occasion we do have users who unreasonably pursue faultless or unsubstantiated claims. These comments hinder the ability for other users to access the information they may need and/or engage in reasonable debate with other users.
Comments that are deemed unreasonable, without foundation, frivolous, burdensome, or unwarranted will be removed without warning. If one user posts repeatedly comments or messages of this kind, they will be banned from commenting altogether.
Switching off comments
There are some posts that we may publish without the function to comment. This is done where we believe the comments will inflame the conversation around a sensitive topic.
Monitoring
Although we try to manage the content our social media channels outside office hours, we can't monitor posts 100% of the time.
We will remove any content that doesn't fit within our guidelines as soon as we see it.
Blocking of users
We reserve the right to block users, without notice if necessary, for seriously breaching or continually breaching these rules about acceptable use. We review banning of accounts on an annual basis.
We reserve the right to change these rules, without notice, to better align with our values and other online protocols.