Social Media House Rules

Georges River Council welcomes comments and does not discriminate against any views related to the content that is posted. We encourage you to openly discuss and share your opinions in a respectful manner.

We do not allow our social media channels to be used by parties or individuals to campaign for a political purpose. We do not condone or accept any misinformation posted to our social media channels. False and unverified information is harmful to our community, makes the community less informed, and it erodes trust. Council has a responsibility to prevent the spread of misinformation.
 

Public comments on our social media accounts

We will respond to comments and messages as quickly as possible. Please note the following:

• We will monitor our social media accounts during business hours only.
• Social media should not be used for logging or responding to complaints and service requests.
• Comments and direct messages through social media are not considered formal correspondence.
• Comments unrelated to the post they are made on will be hidden.
• Direct messages will be referred to the relevant Council department for a response. Unless messages are related to an urgent matter or upcoming event.
• Service requests should be lodged via our Contact us webpage.
   

Privacy

Council will not collect or record your personal details such as your user identity and email address through its social media pages. Please note the Facebook privacy policy.
 

Our social media 'house rules'

To keep our social media accounts friendly and welcoming, we will moderate them as needed. We ask that when contributing your views to our social media platforms, you ensure that you:

• Do not harass, abuse or threaten other visitors on the site.
• Do not make comments that are irrelevant to the topic being discussed.
• Do not post comments of a political nature.
• Do not post comments that are likely to offend others or incite hatred. Especially on an individual’s race, age, gender, sexuality, political leaning, religion, or disability.
• Do not make unproven or unsupported accusations against individuals or organisations.
• Do not make defamatory or libelous comments.
• Do not use obscene or use offensive language.
• Do not post multiple versions of the same view to the wall or make excessive postings on a particular issue.
• Do not promote anything that may constitute spam, such as commercial interests, solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any non-governmental agency.
• Protect your personal privacy and others by not sharing personal information in your posts to the wall. For example, names, email addresses, private addresses or phone numbers.
• Do not identify matters that are currently the subject of legal proceedings or would break a court’s non-publication order.
• Do not post any comments with unverified or false information.

Comments and Posts not conforming to the above requirements will be removed.

Repeatedly breaching these Social Media Usage Guidelines may result in being blocked from our Facebook and other social media channels.
 

Disclaimer

Council makes every effort to ensure that the information on its social media platforms is current and accurate when posted.  No guarantee of any kind, and no legal contract between the Council and any person or entity is to be inferred from the use of or information on the Facebook site.

Council provides no warranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. Users should verify details with the original or authoritative source. Council reserves the right at any time to make such changes as it deems appropriate to that information. Council has no responsibility for the accuracy of any content obtained from this medium and stored by a user in any form.

Any links to external websites and/or non Georges River Council information provided on our social media pages are provided as a courtesy only. They should not be construed as an endorsement by Georges River Council of the content or condition or views of the linked materials.

Any advertisement that may appear when viewing our page is not endorsed by Georges River Council. Nor are we directly affiliated with the advertisement unless stated otherwise.

The act of Georges River Council “liking” or “following” an organisation, business, group, individual person, location or event through social media platforms does not indicate that Georges River Council endorses the products, views, activities or services relating to the “liked” or “followed” entity, business or group.
 

Removal or ‘hiding’ of content

If you upload content on a Council social media platform that the moderator reasonably believes breaches the house rules, it may be removed or hidden.  

The moderator will, where practicable, notify the person who uploaded the content that it has been removed. Reason(s) for its removal and their rights of review will be provided.
 

Blocking or banning

If a person uploads content that is removed or ‘hidden’ on three occasions, that person may be blocked or banned from all social media platforms.

If you are blocked, you will be advised of the intention and reasons and given a chance to respond.

If a person uploads content that the moderator believes poses a health, safety or other substantive risk (such as defamatory content), they may be blocked or banned from all platforms for up to 28 days.
 

Right of review

A person may request a review of a decision by a moderator to remove or ‘hide’ content. The request must be made in writing to the General Manager via mail@georgesriver.nsw.gov.au and include the grounds for the request.

To learn more read our Social Media Policy.