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San MateoCounty, CA

FAST FACTS: Founded: 1856 Size: 455 sq miles Coastline: 57 miles Population: 718,451 Cities: 20 County Employees:

more than 5,300

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Our Social Media Policy

A committee developed our social medial policy over about six months Reps from County Counsel, HR, and

County Manager (the County Executive) Reps from departments

wanting to use social media

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Our Social Media Policy

Created a set of resources available on the County intranet A one-page policy with key issues A 39-page toolkit with detailed policies and

procedures A “work plan” template departments fill in to start

the process Four “terms and conditions” templates

Reviewed by County Counsel Address key legal issues. Which are…

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Six Key Legal Issues

1. Freedom of Speech2. Public Meeting Laws3. Public Records Laws & Document

Retention4. Confidentiality (HIPAA, Privacy,

Consent)5. Labor / Employment Issues6. Copyright / Intellectual Property

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Key Challenge

The law is not fully developed here, meaning some guess work involved

Social media, and related issues, evolve quickly

Becomes a balance:RISK vs. INNOVATION

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1 - Freedom of Speech Government cannot create a public

forum and then selectively decide based on content what speech to allow

You do have some ability to restrict content in advance

Content restrictions must be clear, objective, set in advance, and enforced uniformly

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1 - Freedom of Speech Four types of forums created by social

media use – The department picks which to use:

Information

Sharing Only

Non-public Forum

(Restricted Access)

Limited Public Forum

(Restricted Topic(s))

Designated Public Forum

Speech Continuum

MoreControl

LessControl

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1 - Freedom of Speech Make sure your policy is clear and is

available on the site Make sure you enforce it uniformly

across individuals and across time If you opt to open a forum, know the

consequences: You cannot remove speech you don’t like if it

is on-topic (e.g., unpleasant criticism of a program or Board member)

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2 - Public Meeting Laws Public meeting laws (in CA) prohibit

members of a public Board (County Board of Supervisors, school board, etc.) from discussing issues outside public meetings

Meetings can occur “serially”, meaning communications on issues over time (e.g., by email or even facebook posts)

You may need to caution Board members not to participate in your use of social media

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3 - Public Records Laws In CA, Public Records Act makes nearly

all “documents”—including electronic documents—public record open to inspection

Social media can be hard to archive There are tools you can use to archive

items: For example, on facebook, apps that send

you an email with each comment – easy to save

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4 - Confidentiality (HIPAA, Privacy, Consent)

Social media turns everyone into a publisher of content

Makes it very easy to violate confidentiality/privacy protections

Examples of problems: Protected Health Information (PHI) Employment issues Photos (patients, kids at the library)

Have a policy and consent forms

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5 – Labor / Employment Examples of issues/problems:

Employees commenting on work conditions Employees commenting on discipline Anonymous comments by employees Personal use by employees during work

Should make sure your policy works within the confines of your HR policies

Don’t be overly restrictive in some areas – for example, employees have a right to talk about workplace conditions

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6 – Copyright / IP Issues Becoming a publisher makes it easy to

infringe on intellectual property rights Examples of problems:

Songs used in the background Quoting too much of copy-written articles Using logos, symbols, photos, etc.

Best to educate to prevent problems

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Take-Away Messages Be aware of these issues before you implement

a policy Let departments know what steps to take (e.g.,

review general principles, draft workplan, and then finalize policy)

Contact your counsel with any and all questions that come up, both during and after setting up social media use

Follow the policies you adopt – be uniform Lots is unclear and changing, so be flexible and

stay tuned…