Content Moderation Guidelines
CONTENT MONITORING AND DISALLOWED CONTENT
1. This site requires that postings be "validated" (i.e. approved) by County staff prior to being made public. Staff will review submitted posts within 24 hours during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).
2. All approved County websites are subject to all related administrative policies, including, but not limited to, confidentiality, conflict of interest, general conduct, acceptable use, and sexual harassment.
3. The posting Department must dedicate sufficient resources and time on a daily basis to monitor exploitation or misuse. Prompt corrective action shall be taken when an issue arises that places, or has the potential to place, the County at risk.
4. There may be occasions where disabling of public comments is desirable. In these instances, commenters may be sent an email invitation to converse using a designated County department email address that is regularly monitored.
5. The County reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Posts deemed technically harmful or inappropriate shall be promptly documented, saved per record retention procedures, and removed.
6. Visitors shall be informed that the County disclaims any and all responsibility and liability for any materials that the County deems inappropriate for posting, which cannot be removed in an expeditious and otherwise timely manner.
7. The site must provide a clear statement of the site intent so that the public is aware of the limited nature of the site and that inappropriate posts are subject to removal.
8. Postings, articles and comments containing any of the following forms of content will not be allowed:
- Profane language or content
- Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of any protected class
- Sexual content or links to sexual content
- Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures
- Solicitations of commerce
- Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity
- Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems
- Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party
- Comments not topically related to the particular post being commented upon
- For site security, hypertext links in comments are prohibited. Users and visitors may post only plain text links that they can copy and paste into a browser.
RAPID RESPONSE TO SECURITY RISK, CYBER THREATS, OR INCIDENTS
1. Upon discovery that a site or link has been hijacked or redirected, a site administrator will contact their departmental IT team for appropriate response and report the incident to ICT.
2. Threats of harm posted should be taken seriously. If there appears to be an imminent credible threat, the site administrator will notify his/her immediate supervisor, 911, or law enforcement, as appropriate. A notified supervisor will take similar action in the case of an imminent threat.
3. A threat of suicide posted will be taken seriously and acted on by calling 911.
4. A site administrator who finds comments of a “bullying” nature, will after consultation with County Counsel, make a copy of the comments.
5. In the case of hostile comments, a site administrator will first consult with one’s supervisor for advice. Hostile comments include harsh criticism or “out of control” dialogue. Generally, unless there is a tangible threat within the comment, hostile communications are constitutionally protected speech. Before deleting comments of this nature, County Counsel will first be consulted.