Purpose and Scope

To provide guidelines and procedural measure for the use of Social Media and Public Outreach.

This Policy applies to all City of Benicia ("City") employees, officers, volunteers and designated contractors who, as part of their job responsibilities and requirements, are authorized to speak on behalf of the City in their official capacity. This includes all City employees, officers, volunteers and designated contractors ("users") engaged in the maintenance, participation, and observation of any City social media site ( defined herein). City social media sites include those established by the City, including its boards and commissions, volunteer groups and employees in their official City capacity.

Policy

This Policy establishes guidelines for the use of social media sites by the City as a means of conveying information about the City and its projects, programs, and activities.

To address the fast-changing landscape of the internet and the way residents communicate and obtain information online, the City encourages the use of social media to further the goals of the City and promote its programs and projects, where appropriate.

The City intends to establish multiple forums and forms of public outreach with the purpose to disseminate information from the City, about the City and for the benefit of City, residents, businesses and other stakeholders.

The City respects the legal rights of its employees. With some exceptions, what employees do on their own time is not governed by this Policy. However, online activities at work or online activities outside of work that affect employee job performance, the performance of others, the legal rights of others, the privacy rights of others, and the operational and confidentiality interests of the City, are a proper focus for this Policy, and can be subject to City Personnel Rules and Regulations.

"Users" (as defined above) can reference this policy as a guideline for personal use of social media. The City finds that disparaging statements on personal social media pages, accounts or sites that may serve to impair discipline by superiors or harmony among coworkers, have a detrimental impact on the working relationships, loyalty and confidence necessary for business and operations. Users are advised that the City perceives such statements on personal social media pages, accounts or sites as contrary to the efficient and effective operation of the City and discourages such comments. Technology or devices that are property of the City or use City systems to access and/or are issued to users may be monitored by the City and the City discourages posting, publishing or making such statements on personal social media pages, accounts or sites with City-owned technology or devices.

The City has an overriding interest and expectation in protecting the information posted on its social media sites and the content that is attributed to the City and its officials.

Definitions

"Social media sites" means content created by individuals, using accessible, expandable, and upgradable publishing technologies, through and on the Internet. Examples of social media sites and technology include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, NextDoor, YouTube, Instagram,Tumbler and blogs..

"Social media sites" also means social media sites which the City establishes and maintains, and controls all postings to; except for the content on such sites that are the advertisements or hyperlinks by the social media site's owners, vendors, or partners. Social media sites shall supplement, and not replace, the City's required notices and standard methods of communication.

"Posts" or "a posting" means information, articles, pictures, videos, or any other form of communication posted on a social media site.

"Public Outreach" means any method or medium, generally digital in nature, used to disseminate information to, and engage with, the general public as an effort to connect beyond the limits of conventional forms of communication.

General Policy Guidelines

The establishment of each social media site is subject to approval by the City Manager or his/her designee. Upon such approval, each social media site created shall bear the name and/or official logo of the City and/or City department.
The City's website (www.ci.benicia.ca.us) will remain the City's primary and predominant internet presence, and the site where all required notices and agendas are posted.
1. The best, most appropriate uses of social media tools fall generally into two categories:
  1. As channels for disseminating time-sensitive information as quickly as possible (i.e., emergency information, events information);
  2. As education channels, which increase the City's ability to broadcast its messages to the widest possible audience
2. Wherever possible, content posted to social media sites shall contain links directing users back to the City's official website for in-depth information, forms, documents, or online services necessary to conduct business with the City.
All content on social media sites shall be reviewed, approved, and administered by the City Manager or his/her designee. Wherever possible, all social media sites shall comply with all appropriate policies and standards, including but not limited to the following:
1. Internet/Information Systems Policy
2. Electronic Communication Usage and Retention Policy
3. Harassment Policy
Social media sites utilized by the City shall be managed consistent with the Ralph M. Brown Act (Cal. Gov. Code§ 54950 et seq.) and the City's Open Government Ordinance. Members of the City Council and all Commissions shall not respond to any published postings, or communicate via the City's social media sites or any other form of communication to respond to, blog or engage in serial meetings, or otherwise discuss, deliberate, or express opinions on any issue within the subject matter jurisdiction of the the City.
Social media sites utilized by the City are subject to the California Public Records Act (Cal. Gov. Code§ 6250 et seq.) and the Open Government Ordinance. Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to business, including posted communications, and communications submitted for posting, may be public records subject to public disclosure. Wherever possible, such sites shall clearly indicate that all articles, comments and other content posted or submitted for posting as well as personal identifying information for users and visitors to the site, may be subject to public disclosure. Such sites shall also indicate that public disclosure requests must be directed to the City.
California state law and relevant records retention schedules apply to social media sites and content. Unless otherwise addressed in a specific social media standards document, the department maintaining a social media site shall preserve records required to be maintained pursuant to a relevant records retention schedule for the required retention period on a server in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible. Please contact an information Technology (IT) staff member to determine the appropriate retention formats for specific social media tools.
All postings to social media sites shall adhere to applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Policy or any applicable law.
For each social media site approved for use by the City Manager or his/her designee, the following documentation will be developed and adopted:
1. Operational and use guidelines
  1. The City will develop Standards for each social media site, which will include the Purpose and Content Standards as well as any other details specific to the use of the particular social media site.
  2. The City Manager or his/her designee will maintain a list of social media sites that are approved for use by users.
  3. The City Manager or his/her designee will maintain a list of all social media sites used by departments and staff, including login and password information. Users will inform the City Manager of any administrative changes to existing social media sites.
  4. The City Manager or his/her designee will have authority to edit or remove content from social media sites in accordance with this policy.
2. The City branding standards
All social media sites shall utilize authorized contact information for account set-up, monitoring and access. The use of personal email accounts or phone numbers by any user shall not be allowed for the purpose of setting-up or monitoring a social media site, unless set-up or monitoring is not technologically possible without such use.
The City Manager or his/her designee shall designate specific users as "account administrators" who shall be authorized to administer the City's social media sites, including posting and removing comments, responding to messages and requests for communication, and posting or removing all forms of content including images and text. Such authorized users shall only connect to, and exchange information with, those social media sites authorized by the City pursuant to this Policy.

Content Guidelines

As a public entity, the City must abide by certain standards to serve all of its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.
The following statement shall be posted on the City social media sites' primary pages, or if not able to be posted directly on the site, shall also be found on The City's main website:
1. "The intended purpose of this page is to serve as a mechanism for communication between the City of Benicia and members of the public. However, this page is not the primary method of communication with the City, and any notices or requests for City services must be made via official communication methods identified on the City's website, or by traditional methods of notification recognized by the City, and no comments or posts on this page will be construed as providing notice to the City of any claim, deficiency, dangerous condition, request, or otherwise.
2. Any comments or other content posted or submitted to this page for posting, as well as personal identifying information for the page's users and visitors, and its list of fans, may be public records subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Cal. Gov. Code § 6250 et seq.). Public disclosure requests must be directed to the City."
In addition to the above statement, the City social media sites' primary page (if available) shall also contain contact information for the City and a hyperlink to City website providing addresses, names, phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses of applicable staff and methods of making official requests.
The content of social media sites shall pertain to City-sponsored or City-endorsed programs, services, and events. Content includes, but is not limited to, information, photographs, videos, and hyperlinks. Social media sites may include information or materials not directly sponsored or endorsed by the City, so long as such information or materials have the intent to educate or engage the community on topics relevant to the City, as well as germane to the purpose and topic of the particular social media site. Such content must be approved by the City Manager or his/her designee.
The City shall have full permission or rights to any content posted by the City on social media sites, including photographs and videos.
Social media sites shall be viewed as a municipal resource. Therefore, users shall not engage in any type of political campaigning or political commentary on a social media site.
Social media sites shall not be used for the following purposes (within posted content, messages, or "Liking" or "Following" other pages or accounts): promoting commercial products, entities, or causes; promoting religious or political views; or promoting political organizations, candidates for office, or ballot initiatives. Social media sites can be used to engage the broader community with content that are germane to the site and intended to further its purpose. Any interaction with other entities through social media does not denote endorsement.
"Likes," "Follows," mentions of, or interactions with other social media pages or accounts by a social media site will be at the discretion of the City Manager or his/her designee and do not denote endorsement by the City.
Any user authorized to post items on any of the City's social media sites shall review, be familiar with, and comply with the particular social media site's use policies and terms and conditions.
9. Any user authorized to post items on any of the City's social media sites shall not express his or her own personal views or concerns through such postings. Instead, postings on any of the City's social media sites by an authorized user shall only reflect the views of the City. All postings to social media sites should be reviewed for accuracy, and should include facts and not personal opinions.
Due to the informal nature of social media, generated content may be more conversational and less formal in nature. Keeping with the intention to inform and engage the community, content may reflect the personalities, styles and enthusiasm of the authorized user and department as an extension of the customer service policy and personal nature of the City's community.
Postings, including responses to comments or questions from the public, shall be in support of the City's mission and limited to official business or germane to the purpose and topic of the particular social media site.
Postings must contain information that is freely available to the public and not be confidential as defined by any policy or state or federal law.
Postings should be written as if by the City and sent from a social media site, not the personal account of any user. None of these individuals shall be permitted to post any content on a social media site in his or her personal capacity, whether during or after work hours. There shall be clear division between City and personal social media sites and accounts.
Postings should be checked for spelling, grammatical errors and factual accuracy.
Users shall immediately report to their direct supervisor any false, misleading, malicious, obscene, commercial, pornographic, or offensive behavior appearing on a social media site.
Users shall not spend excessive time maintaining or monitoring social media sites, and agree to only spend on social media sites the time necessary to adequately maintain and monitor social media sites consistent with the employees' assigned job duties.
Users shall be provided a copy of this Policy, and shall, prior to engaging in or continuing any activities described hereunder, sign an acknowledgement of receipt of this Policy and an agreement to comply herewith. Any employee who violates this Policy in any manner may face discipline for such violation.

Comments Guidelines

Users and visitors to social media sites shall be notified of the City's public comment and messaging standards, by a message appearing on the City social media site or by a hyperlink directing a user to the same which states as follows: "The City disclaims any and all responsibility and liability for any materials that the City deems inappropriate for posting which cannot be removed in an expeditious or otherwise timely manner. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Any articles, messages, posts, comments, images, video or other content containing any of the following shall not be allowed and may be removed as soon as possible:

a. Comments not topically related to the particular article or post being commented on;

b. Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures;

c. Profane language or content;

d. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates 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;

e. Sexual content or links to sexual content;

f. Solicitations of commerce;

g. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;

h. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or

I. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.

2. Content posted by outside users shall not be deleted or removed unless it expressly violates the aforementioned policy and/or legal counsel has been consulted. Any content manually removed by users based on these guidelines must be retained, via a printed hard copy, and shall include the date and time of the deleted post as well as the identity of the poster when available. (Note: System settings may be established to allow for auto-deleting of content that violates established posting rules ( e.g., profane language). Content that is auto-deleted will not be retained.)

3. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution may prevent content regulation by the City, as a public entity web page or social media site likely is considered a public forum. The City establishes these sites as limited public forums. Except as provided above in paragraphs 1 and 2 and by the auto-delete function and/or other posting regulations established by the social media site, the City will not delete, restrict or regulate public comments on the social media sites.

4. Wherever possible, users and visitors to social media sites shall be notified by the following message appearing on the City's social media site or by a hyperlink directing a user to the same regarding comments posted by the public: "A comment posted by a member of the public on this page is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the City."

5. Authorized users designated by the City Manager, as described above, shall monitor all social media sites for comments requesting responses from the City and for comments in violation of this Policy.

6. When reviewing and monitoring comments, it shall be the general policy of the City not to engage in a dialogue with the public on social media.

7. When an authorized user responds to a comment the user shall not share personal information about himself or herself or other users.

8. All comments posted to any social media site are also bound by the site's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Terms of Service, or any set of rules established by the site, and the City reserves the right to report any violation to the site with the intent of the site taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action.

Links and Embedded Content Guidelines

1.The City may select links to other social media sites and outside websites that offer helpful resources. Once an individual links from a social media site to another outside page or website, the City's Policies no longer apply and policies of that page or website apply.

2. The City social media sites are intended specifically to share information about programs, events and projects. The City is not responsible for the content that appears on outside links, pages or websites and provides these links as a convenience only.

3. Outside websites or entities may request to be linked on social media sites and other official sites. However, the City reserves the right to authorize posts or links to outside - websites or entities germane to the purpose and topic of the particular social media site, or to remove content or links that are not germane. Entities requesting to be linked on social media sites shall be in line with the content standards set forth in the City of Benicia's Social Media Use and Public Outreach Policy. A social media site linking to an outside website does not denote endorsement by the City of content found on or linked by the outside website.

4. Outside pages and websites and the information found on those pages and websites are not controlled by, provided by or endorsed by the City. The City reserves the right to delete links posted by outside pages and websites that violate its Social Media Use and Public Outreach Policy at any time without notice.

5. Entities, individuals, pages or websites linking to social media sites shall not in any way suggest that the City has any relationship or affiliation with the posting entity or individual, or that the City endorses, sponsors or recommends the information, products or services of the posting entity, individual, page or website.

6. Outside pages and websites are not required to secure advance permission from the City to embed social media site content. However, entities, individuals, pages or websites embedding content shall not present content as their own or otherwise misrepresent any social media site content. Furthermore, entities, individuals, pages or websites shall not misinform about the origin or ownership of social media site content. Embedded content from social media sites should not in any way suggest that the City has any relationship or affiliation with the posting entity or individual, or that the City endorses, sponsors or recommends the information, products or services of the posting entity, individual, page or website.

Spring 2025 RecGuide