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After Facebook incident, Richmond directs staff to draft social‑media policy
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Summary
Following removal of abusive comments from the town Facebook page, the council directed staff to draft a social‑media policy covering whether to allow comments, moderation responsibilities, record retention, and rules for officials' personal pages; councilors were split on keeping comments enabled versus turning them off.
Town staff removed comments from a recent Facebook post after what the administrator described as an incident and temporarily disabled comments pending council direction. At the April 13 meeting the town administrator told council that the town currently lacks a social‑media policy and recommended the council give staff direction so a consistent rule can be drafted.
Councilors were split. Several said they favor turning comments off on the official government page to avoid the moderation burden and to keep the town’s page a unidirectional information channel. One councilor argued comments should remain enabled because engagement and reach on the platform increase with comments; that member suggested a clear disclaimer that the page is not monitored and that formal communications should go to email or phone.
Legal and records issues were central to the debate. The administrator noted removed comments become public documentation the town must maintain and warned that elected officials who use personal pages for public business may face different rules about blocking or moderation. Several councilors asked staff to clarify whether volunteers, appointed officials and staff have different obligations when they share town information from personal accounts.
The council voted to direct staff to draft a social‑media policy for review at the next meeting. That draft will address whether comments remain enabled, standards for civility and moderation, how the town will treat comments as public records, and whether the town will require limits for appointed/elected officials’ personal pages when used for town business.
Why it matters: With increasing reliance on social platforms for municipal communications, the policy will define how Richmond balances engagement with moderation, legal recordkeeping and First Amendment constraints.
Next steps: Staff will draft a proposed policy and bring it back for council discussion and a vote at the next meeting.
