Social Media Acceptable Use Guidelines

We encourage open discussion on our Facebook Pages, Community Groups and other social media platforms, but to make sure everyone has a fair go, we have a few guidelines. These guidelines are intended to create a space where people can trust the people and community they interact with.

Disclaimer

Council may, from time to time, remove third party content (e.g. public comments or posts) or disable commenting entirely on our content. This is done at our discretion and may be done for any reason.

Council does not accept responsibility for comments on our social media pages. They are not representative of the opinions of Council, nor do we make any warranty to their accuracy. The views expressed by any contributor to Council's social media platforms are those of the individual.

Council employees who are residents, ratepayers or customers of council services are not precluded from participating in community debate about an issue that affects them, however they must make it clear that they are commenting as a resident/customer not as a council employee.

Council interacts with the community via social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Your usage and interactions with Council on these platforms are subject to this Council's Privacy Policy, Council's Online Privacy Statement, as well as the Privacy Policy of the respective platform(s). Visitors to our page should also be familiar with Facebook community standards.

Our Privacy Policy provides guidance and advice on the way in which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal and health information of individuals. The Policy also details how individuals can request access to their information in addition to outlining the complaint process for any potential breaches of privacy.

Hours of moderation

Council monitors and moderates its social platforms during its business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:15am to 5:00pm, closed Public Holidays and Christmas/New Years shutdown period). We only respond to comments and private messages during these times, therefore responses to online requests for information may take more than one business day.

If you have an urgent enquiry, please email council@shepparton.vic.gov.au or call 03 5832 9700.

Council reserves the right to change, amend, remove or add to these terms of use as appropriate, and without notice.

Social media etiquette, guidelines and rules

When interacting with this page, Council requests that you:

  • treat other people and organisations with respect;
  • do not post your personal details such as address or phone number, or the personal details of others;
  • refrain from posting solicitations, advertisements, endorsements (political or otherwise) or spam (fundraisers and community events are accepted);
  • acknowledge that Council cannot check the accuracy of every comment and does not take any responsibility for reliance on comments on this page; and 
  • adhere to the Terms of Use/Service and Community Standards of the social media platform you are participating in. These include

Moderation

Comments may be deleted as determined by Council’s absolute discretion if they contain:

  • violent, obscene, profane, hateful, derogatory, racist or sexist language, links or images;
  • information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or Council personnel;
  • any discussion or promotion of behaviour that is unlawful;
  • comments that threaten or defame any person or organisation;
  • solicitations, advertisements, endorsements (political or otherwise) or spam (fundraisers and community events are accepted);
  • off-topic comments by a single person;
  • repetitive comments or duplicated comments by single person or multiple people on one or multiple posts;
  • spreading misinformation or encouraging defiance against public health/safety information, guidelines or restrictions; or
  • any other inappropriate content or comments as determined by Council.

People determined to be testing the limits/boundaries of these guidelines and rules may be hidden, deleted or otherwise blocked at the discretion of Council. 

Council also notes that social media platforms have their own policies in relation to use of pages, groups, comments, profiles and posting on their site, and expects users of these sites to abide by the policies for use of each platform generally.

Council does not endorse any threads or comments placed on our platforms and will remove any comments which do not comply with these policies. Commenting may be disabled on posts at our discretion if adequate moderation resourcing is not available. 

People who repeatedly breach these guidelines will be blocked. If the breach is considered to be serious, Council may choose to block offenders immediately. Blocked individuals may appeal to Council to have their restrictions lifted after a minimum period of 12 months.