10/25/2022 - Regular - Additional Docs-Social MediaCity of Port Orchard
Discussion on City Council Social Media Policies
Facilitator: Charlotte Archer
City Attorney
1
Existing City Policies
Police Department:
Only authorized users
Content controlled
Public posting prohibited / comments deactivated
Supervised
Records Retention and Training
City Personnel Policies:
Only authorized users (Social Media Coordinator)
Account and access control
Public posting prohibited / comments deactivated
Equal Access preserved
2
Key Legal Issues for Discussion
Personal v. City Business
Public Records Retention
Communication with the Public
Free Speech / Public Forum
Use of public facilities/PDC
3
Personal v. City Business
West v. City of Puyallup: “A public official’s posts on a personal Facebook page can constitute an agency’s public records subject to disclosure under the PRA if the posts relate to
the conduct of government and are prepared within a public official’s scope of employment or official capacity.”
Questions to ask: Is the page, account, or posting linked to me as a Councilmember or linked to the City? Is the question posed to me in my capacity as a Councilmember? Is the message
conveyed to the benefit of the City?
4
Public Records Retention
RCW 42.56.010(3)
“any writing”
“containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function”
“prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency”
Must be preserved, retained and produced
5
Communication with the Public
Notification of issues / Reporting
Quasi-judicial proceedings
Federally-funded projects
6
Free Speech / Public Forum
Banning Users:
Davison v. Randall: 912 F.3d 666 (4th Cir. 2019)
Removing Comments/Posts: Must be viewpoint neutral
Knight First Amendment Inst. at Columbia Univ. v. Trump, 928 F.3d 226, 237 (2d Cir. 2019)
Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98, 106, 121 S. Ct. 2093, (2001)
7
Use of public facilities/PDC
RCW 42.17A.555 – No public facilities (including employees during working hours) may be used to assist campaigns for office. Only in very limited and narrow circumstances as set forth
in state law may public facilities be used to promote or oppose ballot propositions.
Facilities includes website(s)
8
Questions and Discussion
9