Social Media Policy

Disclaimer

The City operates and maintains its social media sites as a public service to provide information about City programs, services, projects, issues, events and activities. The City assumes no liability for any inaccuracies these social media sites may contain and does not guarantee that the social media sites will be uninterrupted, permanent, or error-free.

Any individual accessing, browsing and using a City of Washougal (hereafter "City") social media sites accepts without limitation or qualification, the City's Social Media Policy (hereafter "Policy"). The City maintains the right to modify this Policy without notice. Any modification is effective immediately upon posting the modification on the Social Media Policy page unless otherwise stated. Continued use of any City social media sites following the posting of any modification signifies acceptance of such modification.

Moderation of Third Party Content (Comments)

For all City social media sites that allow user-generated content (non city-published content), those sites are limited public forums, moderated by City of Washougal Communication Liaison, or their designee, to ensure content posted by outside users is appropriate. A Comment Policy Notice shall be displayed or linked to on all social media sites that allow user-generated material to be posted, indicating the site is moderated and inappropriate content will be removed. The City's Social Media Policy shall be linked to the notice.

The City social media sites and all content published are subject to monitoring. User-generated posts will be rejected or removed at the sole discretion of the City when the content:

  • Violates the social media tool's terms of use
  • Is not related to the particular content being commented upon
  • Refers to City of Washougal employees by name
  • Promotes or advertises commercial services, entities, or products
  • Supports or opposes political candidates or ballot propositions
  • Is obscene, profane or vulgar and/or includes or provides links to sexual content
  • Discusses, encourages or constitutes illegal activity
  • Promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation
  • Provides information that compromises the safety or security of the public or public systems, or includes threatening, harassing, or personal attacks against any individual or entity
  • Content that violates or appears to infringe upon a legal ownership interest of any other party

The City reserves the right to remove any content with or without notice to the author. The City also reserves the right to ban or block any user that repeatedly (more than once) violates the guidelines listed above. Any content removed based on these guidelines must be retained for a maximum of three years (the statute of limitations under 42 USC 1983 for violation of First Amendment rights), including the time, date and identity of the poster when available.

Public Records Disclosure

The City social media accounts are subject to State of Washington public records laws. Accordingly, any comment, including a list of subscribers, posted communication or information submitted to or contained within the site, in whole or in part, is a public record and may be subject to disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56. Washington state law and relevant City records retention schedules apply to social media accounts and content.

Third-Party External Links

The City may include links to the official City website as well as links to third-party external sites. Links the City may include are limited to those that meet our governmental purpose. Third-party external linked sites are not under the control of the City and the City is not responsible for the content of any third-party external site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. The City does not imply endorsement by the City or any association with their operators.

Property of the City of Washougal

All information content and images, including the City logo/seal generated by the City and provided on any City social media site are property of the City, proprietary in nature and are protected by applicable trademarks and copyright laws.