This policy applies to all Utah County employees, contractors, volunteers, consultants and service providers performing business on behalf of Utah County insofar as they use any County sponsored social media services. Utah County departments using social media prior to the implementation of this policy shall achieve full policy compliance within 180 days of the effective date of this policy.
For purposes of this policy, “social media” is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and content creation. Through social media, individuals or collaborations of individuals can create web content, organize content, edit or comment on content, combine content, and share content. Examples of social media include, but are not limited to, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. This policy applies, but is not limited to, all posts, comments, messages, and content created, generated, produced, and/or maintained by official County social media sites. This policy does not apply to elected officials' personal social media accounts, including those personal accounts that designate the elected official as an elected official for the County.
Any County employee, excluding elected officials posting or commenting on their own personal or official political social media site, found to have knowingly violated this policy shall be subject to disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, temporary loss of network connectivity, loss of Internet access, or complete and permanent termination of access to any Utah County network. Any violation or cumulative violations may lead to other disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from County employment, subject to current department and Utah County Human Resources Rules and Regulations. All contractors that handle County social media shall agree to adhere to this policy and the Comment Policy. Any contractor found to have knowingly violated this policy or the Comment Policy shall be considered in breach of contract and subject to termination in accordance with the terms of their agreement with the County.
Each County department shall be responsible to educate staff that work with social media regarding this policy.
Utah County Government, its elected officials, and all other County departments, divisions, committees, commissions, or boards who own or control a social media account from which content has been removed or a public user's access has been blocked must preserve records of the removed or blocked content for the required retention period in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible. Any removal or deletion of comments or posts by the public must be treated as government records and must be preserved pursuant to GRAMA. Authorized users for an elected official, or other department, division, committee, commission, or board who owns or controls the pertinent social media account must also work with the County Records Officer to ensure the records are properly retained.
The use of personal social media accounts to conduct County business is prohibited. If a personal social media account is used for government business, the content created is a public record, and the personal social media account must be managed and archived according to public records laws and these policies.
Records published on social media platforms and websites do not all have the same content. The content determines the retention period. All County social media posts, comments, messages, and media shall be retained for a period as determined by the Utah County Records Officer in accordance with applicable retention schedules.
Personal and official political social media accounts are not governed by this policy and are not government records. Use of personal or official political social media accounts for official County business may convert the personal or official political social media account into a public forum subject to this policy.
The County should take all necessary steps to follow directions from County IT to ensure social media accounts are secure from accidental or intentional attacks. Passwords should be adequately complex to prevent cyberattacks. Passwords should not be sent through email but should be stored in a location that is secure yet accessible to authorized users. If a cyberattack is suspected, the executive officer, elected official, or department, division, committee, commission or board who owns or controls the pertinent social media account should immediately contact IT and attempt to remedy the security breach (e.g. shut down the account).
Visitors to County owned and controlled social media sites should be aware that the intended purpose of these pages is to disseminate information from the Utah County Government to members of the public. The County disclaims responsibility for materials the County deems to be inappropriate for posting that are not removed in a timely manner. Comments made by the public are the opinion of the commentator and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the County or its officers.
As a limited public forum, this is a moderated site. If you post a comment or link, the County reserves the right to hide or delete any submission that includes:
The County does not discriminate based on viewpoint or for merely expressing disagreement with County policies or practice. Materials that are removed based on these guidelines shall be retained, including time, date, and identity of the poster if available.
If a visitor to the County's social media pages violates these terms two or more times within a 12-month period, the employee, contractor, department, division, committee, commission, or board who controls the social media account may block the offending visitor. Users who have been blocked or whose posts or comments have been hidden or removed may appeal the decision in accordance with the Utah County Social Media Management Policy found on the Utah County website.
Comments made on this page do not constitute a legal or official notice or comment to Utah County and will not be regarded as a request for service.