05-27-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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City staff generally has the right to speak publicly as private citizens on "matters of public concern," Such speech, even if made in the workplace or as part of official duties, may be constitutionally protected -if the interests of the employee, in commenting upon matters ofpublic concern, outweighs a city's interests in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees, Be eareful to balance these interests before taking any action against an employee for the content of the speech he/she publicizes on social media sites, Of course, not everything is defined as a matter of public concern — comments on private matters with no impact on the greater public generally are not considered protected speech. Cities should consult with their city attorneys as appropriate on this issue. Staff never has the right to reveal non-public or private data, Etiquette guidelines for staff who use social media on a personal basis might include: • Account Names. Personal social media account names should be not be tied to the city, This will help clarify that the individual is not speaking offiolally on behalfofthe city. for example, the personal Twitter account for John Doe, the Mosquito Heights Public Works Director, should be just "JohnDoe," his Facebook page "John Doe's" and so on. Staff interested in using social media officially on behalfofthe city should talk with their supervisor. • Mind the law, existing city policies and guidelines. Individuals who use personal social media accounts are not immune from the law, or from the need to follow existing city policies and guidelines related to harassment prevention, media relations, computer use and other policies the city may have adopted. Individuals should be encouraged to refrain from uploading, posting, transmitting or making available content known to be false, ►misleading or fraudulent. They should be encouraged not to post photos that infringe on trademark, copyright or patent rights of others, Individuals never have the right to post non-public and confidential information such as information related to coworkers, personnel data, medical information, claims or lawsuits against the city, Individuals should not use city -owned equipment to post to personal sites content that violates existing city policies, that exhibits hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or otherwise defamatory content. Individuals should be encouraged to post to personal sites only that content which is suitable for readers and viewers of all ages, What about elected officials who use social media? Some elected officials already use blogs, microblogs, Faeebook and other social media to eonnect with constituents and to promote political agendas. This is a reasonable use of social media, but elected officials should not use official city social media sites for campaigning purposes, just as they would not use the official city website or newsletter for campaigning. Page 9 of 12