Public Policy for Communication Channels & Social Media

King George County Government is committed to open and transparent communication between the county and its residents, business community, visitors, and other members of the general public. The county will communicate to its constituents using a variety of channels, including social media. To ensure that communications are accurate, consistent, and professional, the county will authorize specific individuals to use social media in an official capacity.

Purpose

The purpose of King George County’s official social media platforms is to provide information of public interest to the county’s residents, business community, visitors, and other members of the general public. The county encourages the public to engage with this content by sharing questions, comments, and/or concerns regarding the posted topics; however, please note that these are moderated online discussion sites. Please read the following policy carefully and in its entirety.

Outline

The county reserves the right to remove, or refuse to approve, content shared on its communication channels, including social media, that are;

1. Unrelated to the official content posted by the county;
2. Profane, vulgar, obscene or disparaging;
3. Expressing or implying threats of violence;
4. Illegal or encouraging illegal activity;
5. Promoting, fostering, or perpetuating discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation (per Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964);
6. Constituting harassment or abuse;
7. Commercial solicitation or spam, or link to another website;
8. Compromising public safety;
9. Promoting a product, service, or political candidate;
10. Repetitive (“spam-like”) posts, comments, or direct messages by a single user, including repetitive comments published across multiple posts or comment threads;
11. Infringing on copyrights or trademarks; and/or
12. Including phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or similar information.

Violators of this policy may have their content removed from the county’s communication channels, including social media. After removal, the county will share that content was removed from the platform as it violated this policy and will encourage the violators to revise their content to meet this policy to share again. Continued or egregious violations of this policy may prompt the county to further restrict an individual’s content on official county communication channels, including social media.

Disclaimer

1. King George County is not responsible for the content provided on “related” and “promoted” photographs and videos that are accessible from communication channels, including social media. All viewers should note that these related photographs and videos, and the comments expressed on them, do not reflect the opinions and position of King George County Government or its officers and employees.
2. Please note that social media platforms have their own rules of conduct; therefore, social media platforms may independently remove comments or ban users. King George County Government is not responsible for those actions.
3. Many social media platforms provide non-public routes to contact official King George County Government communication channels, including social media accounts; however, please note that those conversations are public records and subject to Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests.
4. Any content that violates this policy that is removed will be archived for public record if it is at the decision of the county. Note that this does not include the ability to reference records that were removed by Facebook or the original content creator of the violation.
5. In its sole discretion, the county may create posts on its communication channels, including social media, that do not allow for comments from the public.
6. In its sole discretion, the county may use an automated filter that prevents profane, vulgar, or obscene comments from being posted on the county’s communication channels, including social media. The county is not responsible for removing, or refusing to approve, comments restricted by the filter.
7. This policy provides best practices and requirements for effectively managing productive and impactful communication channels for informing the public about King George County Government and is regularly updated to address changes in the digital space. 
8. The county recognizes that modern communication channels are accessible at all times, and engagement is always welcome. However, given the need to manage staff resources efficiently, the county generally only monitors communication channel content during regular business hours. 

Contact

If you have any questions concerning the operation of county communication channels or the implementation of this policy, please contact the community engagement department at 540-775-9181 or info@co.kinggeorge.state.va.us.

*Content removal is applicable to all communication channel content, including social media, on King George County platforms, including, but not limited to, comments, posts, videos, and photos.