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Holmes County commissioners move to archive social-media livestreams and allocate $1,500 for backups
Summary
Following concerns that Facebook livestreams have been automatically deleted, commissioners moved to use contingency funds to purchase an archiving service and directed staff to retain recent livestreams; a local newspaper owner warned of legal obligations to preserve public records.
The Holmes County Board of County Commissioners instructed staff to begin preserving social-media livestreams and authorized up to $1,500 from board contingency for an archiving service after concerns that Facebook has been deleting livestream recordings after 30 days.
Carol Kent Smith, owner of the Holmes County Advertiser, told the board she had written a letter calling attention to possible Sunshine Law and public-records issues after several livestream recordings were no longer available. Smith recommended archiving solutions and said the law requires public bodies to retain social-media posts used to conduct public business. "The state does not dictate how you back it up. It just says you have to," Smith told commissioners.
County staff and the clerk explained that Meta (Facebook) had announced livestreams would remain on the platform for only 30 days as of Feb. 19 and that some more-recent recordings appeared to have been removed. Staff said they had experienced intermittent Internet and streaming problems in the courthouse room that complicated livestream reliability.
A motion to spend $1,500 from the board contingency to purchase an archiving service and to begin retrieving and preserving meeting livestreams was moved and seconded during the meeting. Commissioners discussed implementation and interim steps to keep meetings live while staff pursues an archival solution. The transcript records a motion and second and that staff would proceed, but it does not include a roll-call tally in the excerpt.
The board emphasized the transparency value of livestreams while also instructing staff to ensure records are properly retained. Staff said they would research archiving vendors and bring details back to the board as needed.
