The social media policy has been in the works for several months.
Deputy Mayor Anna M. Sorensen said the committee wanted to recirculate its draft with the board because it will be up for discussion at the next meeting of the town and village boards on May 4.
According to the draft policy, the goal is to have a cohesive online presence through municipal, departmental and Board committee social media sites, with the municipal website — canontlny.gov — as the primary online presence.
Cantonny.gov is managed by the town and village clerks' offices with support from the communications and technology committee.
Departments in the town and village manage several Facebook accounts.
There is a general municipal Facebook account for the town and village, while the police and recreation departments and the historian maintain their own social media accounts.
The policy indicates that all the sites should be complimentary and whenever possible, content posted to municipal social media sites should also be available on cantonny.gov.
"Social media posts referencing content on the municipal website should link to where that information can be found. Information posted on the homepage of the municipal site requires review and permission of the clerks," the policy reads.
If other departments or committees want to establish department social media accounts, they must seek approval from the supervisor and mayor through the communications and technology committee.
Those social media accounts are for informational purposes only.
Employees posting to social media must present the "highest standards of decorum concerning language and content and follow town, village, and state policies and regulations."
Departments are expected to keep an eye on their accounts and while it is a way to communicate with the public, comments must be monitored.
The policy contains a list of topics that are not allowed including:
- Comments not related to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;
- Comments related, in support of, or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures;
- Defamatory or personal attacks;
- Profane content and language;
- Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination based on race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status concerning public assistance,
national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual identity or orientation; - Sexual content or links to sexual content;
- Threats to any person or organization;
- Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;
- Conduct in violation of any federal, state, or local law;
- Encouragement of illegal activity;
- Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
- Comments that may cause an invasion of privacy; or
- Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
The communications and technology committee will regularly review each site to ensure they comply with the policy.
The town and village board will discuss the policy at 6 p.m. May 4 in the courtroom at 60 Main St.
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