Social Media Comments Policy

The Talbot County Health Department (TCHD) Social Media Comments Policy, in accordance with affiliated MDH Social Media Policy 01.04.02, https://health.maryland.gov/dhmh/01.04.02%20MDH%20Social%20Media%20Policy%20-%20090921.pdf, governs the monitoring of public comments on our social media profiles.

The goal of the Talbot County Health Department (TCHD) is to disseminate information to as many individuals in the community as possible. Our policy is to accept the majority of comments made to our social media postings. We encourage participants to be civil and abide by the usage guidelines established by the various social media platforms (see references). In addition, please be aware of the following:

1. We monitor TCHD-hosted social media profiles and pages, but are not responsible for the content/comments generated by users.
2. Comments, links and images posted by non-TCHD personnel may not necessarily represent the views of TCHD.
3. Content posted on TCHD’s social media accounts becomes public record, handled according to MDH policy: removal of content from any MDH-affiliated social media account must be handled transparently, in good faith and in consultation with the Office of Communications.
4. Our profiles and pages may contain website links and advertising from the social media platform, e.g., Facebook and/or users. This does not constitute endorsement by TCHD.
5. Administrators reserve the right to hide submissions/comments, in accordance with MDH policy, i.e., comments posted to MDH-affiliated social media accounts may not be deleted. If a comment contains obscene language, hate speech or could be perceived as a threat, the comment may be hidden (note: this option is only available on Facebook), including:
   • profanity and vulgar or abusive language;
   • personal attacks or threats of any kind;
   • offensive comments that target or disparage any ethnic, racial, religious group or sexual orientation;
   • sensitive information (for example, information that could compromise public safety or ongoing investigations);
   • spam (fake account messaging, malicious links, fake reviews, click-baiting, like-jacking, etc.) or referenced links to other sites;
   • comments not typically related to a particular announcement/ article being commented upon/clearly off topic;
   • comments that advocate illegal activity;
   • promotion or advertising of particular services, products or political organizations/candidates;
   • copyright or trademark infringement;
   • personally identifiable information.
6. Please do not post personal information such as address, social security number, health conditions and other confidential/private information.
7. TCHD will answer questions during business hours as time permits. Be cautious of answers from other users as the information may not be correct.
8. If you have an immediate concern, we recommend contacting the specific division, program or property using the TCHD main phone, 410-819-5600.
9. We understand that social media is a 24/7 medium; however, our moderation capabilities are not. We may not see every inappropriate comment right away, and we are trusting in the maturity of our community to ignore personal attacks and negative speech, to respond politely and to notify TCHD of those comments.

Violations of the above guidelines may result in the author being banned from all TCHD-sponsored social media efforts. This can occur without warning and at our discretion. Please contact talbot.health@maryland.gov with questions.

References:

MDH: https://health.maryland.gov/dhmh/01.04.02%20MDH%20Social%20Media%20Policy%20-%20090921.pdf

Facebook: https://about.meta.com/actions/promoting-safety-and-expression/

Twitter: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules#:~:text=Twitter’s%20purpose%20is%20to%20serve,public%20conversation%20freely%20and%20safely.

Created: 11/2022-SE

Filename: Social Media Comment Policy