Social Media
LEADENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Social Media Policy
The aim of this policy is to set out a Code of Practice to provide guidance to parish councillors, council staff and others who engage with the council using online communications, collectively referred to as social media.
Social media is a collective term used to describe methods of publishing on the internet.
This policy covers all forms of social media and social networking sites which include (but are not limited to):
- Parish Council Website
- Facebook, Myspace and other social networking sites
- Twitter and other micro blogging sites
- Youtube and other video clips and podcast sites
- Bloggs and discussion forums
The use of social media does not replace existing forms of communication.
The principles of this policy apply to parish councillors and council staff and also applies to others communicating with the Parish Council.
The policy sits alongside relevant existing polices which need to be taken into consideration.
The current Code of Conduct applies to online activity in the same way it does to other written or verbal communication.
Individual parish councillors and council staff are responsible for what they post in a council and personal capacity.
In the main, councillors and council staff have the same legal duties online as anyone else, but failure to comply with the law may have more serious consequences.
Social media may be used to
- Distribute agendas, post minutes and dates of meetings
- Advertise events and activities
- Good news stories linked website or press page
- Vacancies
- Re-tweet or share information from partner agencies such as Principal Authorities, Police, Library, Health etc.
- Announcing new information
- Post or Share information from other parish related community groups such as schools, sports clubs, community groups and charities
- Refer resident queries to the clerk and all other councillors
Code of Practice
When using social media (including email), parish councillors and council staff must be mindful of the information they post in both a personal and council capacity and keep the tone of any comments respectful and informative.
Communications from the council will meet the following criteria:
• Be accurate, objective, balanced and informative
• Be civil, tasteful and relevant
• Not contain content that is knowingly unlawful, libellous, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profance, sexually oriented or racially offensive
• Not contain content knowingly copied from elsewhere, for which we do not own the copyright
• Not contain any personal information, unless appropriate permission has been given in advance
• Social media will not be used for the dissemination of any political advertising
• Confidential information which is not in the public domain (i.e. confidential reports or information not already on the council’s website or in published minutes) will not be shared
• Official council social media will be administered by the clerk or other members of staff as nominated by the clerk
In order to ensure that all discussions on council social media are productive, respectful and consistent with the council’s aims and objectives, we ask that these guidelines are followed by all who post:
• Be considerate and respectful of others. Vulgarity, threats or abuse of language will not be tolerated
• Differing opinions and discussion of diverse ideas are encourages, but personal
attacks on anyone, including council members of staff, will not be permitted
• Share freely and be generous with official council posts, but be aware of copyright laws; be accurate and give credit where credit is due
• Stay on topic
• Refrain from using the council’s social media for commercial purposes or to
advertise, market or sell products
The council’s social media is not monitored 24/7 and we will not always be able to reply individually to all messages or comments received. However, we will endeavour to ensure that any emerging themes or helpful suggestions are passed to the relevant people or authorities. Please do not include personal/private information in your social media posts to us.
Sending a message/post via social media will not be considered as contacting the council for official purposes and we will not be obliged to monitor or respond to requests for information or services through these channels. Instead, direct contact should be made by telephone or via the council’s email Clerk@leadenham-pc.gov.uk
We retain the right to remove comments or content that includes:
• Obscene or racist comment
• Personal attacks, insults or threatening language
• Potentially libellous statements
• Plagarised material or any material in violation of laws, including copyright
• Private or personal information published without consent
• Information or links unrelated to the council content
• Commercial promotions or spam
• Information which alleges a breach of the council’s policy or the law
The Council will appoint a nominated person as moderator of parish council social media output and be responsible for posting and monitoring content to ensure it complies with the Social Media Policy.
The moderator will have authority to remove any posts made by third parties from council social media pages which are deemed to be of a defamatory or libellous nature.
This policy will be reviewed annually.
Date approved 11/11/2025