Users of Bannock County social media forums must be notified on the forum site that:
A) The intended purpose of the forum is to serve as a medium for communication between Bannock County and members of the public;
B) Submission of comments by members of the public constitutes participation in a limited public forum;
C) A comment posted by a member of the public is the opinion of the poster only
;
D) Publication of the comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, Bannock County; and
E) Comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Bannock County unless expressly stated by an authorized user. Comments on Bannock County’s social media forums shall only be allowed when comments are consistent with the provisions of this policy. Comments on Bannock County’s social media complying with policy must be allowed to remain, regardless of whether they are favorable or unfavorable to Bannock County. Posts informing social media followers about upcoming public hearings should have commenting capabilities turned off, in order to ensure public comments are taken at the hearing. (I.e. “*Comments for this post have been disabled. Testimony can be shared at the public meeting or via email by sending comments to [email protected]”)
V. Posts and comments containing any of the following inappropriate forms of content are not allowed and should be deleted:
A) Comments not topically related to the particular post, thread, topic, or article being commented upon;
B) Profane, obscene, sexual or violent language or content, or links to such;
C) Defamatory or personal attacks;
D) 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;
E) Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising for any business or product for sale;
F) Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns, candidates, or ballot measures of any kind;
G) Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any person or entity, such as trademark, patent or copyright;
H) Confidential or proprietary information;
I) Doxing comments, or comments that publish private or identifying information about an individual, with malicious intent;
J) Threats of harm to any person or organization;
K) Encouragement of illegal activity;
L) Conduct that violates any federal, state, or local law; or
M) Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems. If activity listed in i, j, k, l, or m occurs, employees must secure the information and notify the Bannock County Commissioners and/or Sheriff’s Office. VI. Bannock County 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 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. VII. Bannock County may deny access to Bannock County social media at any time and without prior notice to any person who violates these content guidelines. VIII. These content guidelines must be displayed on the social media site or made available by a link to Bannock County’s official website.
