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Rock Creek council asks staff to draft social media policy recommending disabled comments
Summary
Following guidance from the League of Minnesota Cities, Rock Creek council asked staff to draft a formal social media policy for April that would recognize the city Facebook page as official and disable comments to avoid data-practices complications.
Councilmember Dan Saumer reported that the League of Minnesota Cities recommends adopting a formal social media policy and advised disabling comments on all posts to avoid potential data-practices complications and inconsistent First Amendment issues if comments were enabled selectively. Saumer said the League provided a template for such a policy.
Council asked Nancy Rys and Deputy Clerk Ashley Rauschnot to use the League template and draft a policy for presentation at the April council meeting. The draft will include recognition of the City's Facebook page as an official communication channel and a recommendation to disable comments on posts to limit data-collection obligations if complaints or legal matters arise.
Why it matters Municipal social-media practices can trigger public-records and data-privacy obligations; the League's guidance is intended to reduce the City's exposure to extensive data practices and legal complexity by recommending uniform rules for public posts and comment handling.
Next step Staff will return a draft policy in April for council consideration.
