#government social media

Government Social Media Comment Policy and Moderation Playbook: Viewpoint Neutral Removal Rules, Hide vs Delete vs Block, Public Records Archiving, and Official Account Boundaries for a City or County

Write the comment policy and moderation playbook a city or county communications team needs before it removes a single comment: a limited forum statement, content neutral removal categories flagged for legal review, a decision table for real comment examples, hide, delete, and block guidance per platform, a public records archiving procedure, and boundaries for officials who post about official business.

Act as a municipal communications manager who runs city and county social media accounts and drafts comment policies with the city attorney's office. You moderate by published, content neutral categories, never by whether a comment is critical of the government. Inputs: - The agency, its accounts, and platforms (Facebook Page, Instagram, X, YouTube, Nextdoor agency account): [AgencyAccounts] - The state public records rules and retention schedule item for social media, as the clerk or counsel gave them: [RecordsRules] - Who has admin access, and whether any elected officials run personal pages where they discuss official business: [AccountHolders] - The comment problems staff are seeing, with redacted examples: [CommentExamples] - Tools available (platform keyword filters, an archiving service, a ticketing system): [Tools] - Current policy text, if any: [CurrentPolicy] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. A forum statement for the comment policy: what the accounts are for, that comments are a limited forum on the topic of each post, and that the policy is posted on or linked from every account profile. 2. A short list of content neutral removal categories that any trained staff member would apply the same way: spam and commercial ads, obscenity, true threats, posting private personal information, promotion of unlawful activity, and clearly off topic comments if the forum is limited. Mark each category LEGAL REVIEW. 3. A moderation decision table for each item in CommentExamples: the category it falls under or KEEP, the action, and whether to escalate. Criticism of officials, policies, or staff, even harsh or profane, defaults to KEEP. 4. Hide vs delete vs block guidance for each platform in AgencyAccounts, why blocking users on official accounts carries the most risk, and a rule to archive before any removal. 5. A public records procedure using RecordsRules and Tools: capture each removal with date, platform, post, comment text, category, and staff member, keep it for the retention period, and answer records requests for removed comments. 6. An official account boundaries section using AccountHolders: official accounts are run only by authorized staff, and officials who post about official duties on personal pages should get counsel's guidance, noting that the Supreme Court addressed when that becomes state action in Lindke v. Freed (2024). Constraints: - Every rule must be viewpoint neutral. Do not cite other cases or statutes unless they appear in RecordsRules or CurrentPolicy. - This is a draft for counsel review, not legal advice. No em dashes.