Social Media Terms and Conditions

Syracuse City (the “City”) uses social media as a platform to build communication and trust with the public and provide information regarding our community and local activities. 

As a municipal corporation and a public entity, the City will comply with federal and state laws and has set forth the following terms and conditions. Any individual accessing or interacting with any City social media site (the “User”) accepts, without limitation, and agrees to follow these terms and conditions. The City maintains the right to change these terms and conditions at any time in its sole discretion and without notice. 

The User is also subject to any terms of use of the social media platform provider (“Provider”). The City has no control over a Provider’s terms of use, content, commercial advertisements, or other postings produced by the Provider that may appear on a social media site as part of the Provider’s environment.

MODERATION OF THIRD-PARTY CONTENT 

The City is not responsible for, and does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify, or agree with, third-party comments, messages, posts, opinions, advertisements, videos, promoted content, external hyperlinks, linked websites (or the information, products, or services contained therein), statements, commercial products, processes, or services posted on any social media site.

The City's social media sites serve as a limited public forum and all content published is subject to preservation and disclosure in accordance with the Utah Governmental Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Posted content (comments, photos, links, or other material, referred to hereafter as “Comments”) must relate to the discussion of City programs, services, projects, issues, events, or activities. 

The City's social media properties are public, meaning all Comments are publicly visible and accessible by search engines. In following the law, there may be times when what some people perceive to be offensive comments left by members of the public will remain visible on our social media posts, if such comments are legally protected speech. Users should consider that City social media feeds may be viewed by children and other impressionable people. Please avoid profanity, slurs, personal attacks, bullying, or use of false information.

Comments posted on this account will not be edited by the City. While the City has no duty to do so, the City reserves the right to remove or hide any Comments that do not relate to City business, including Comments that:

• Incite or promote violence or illegal activities;
• Contain or link to obscenity, which is defined as sexually explicit and/or pornographic content that is patently offensive, appeals to prurient interest, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value;
• Expressly encourage or advocate our agency to illegally discriminate based on race, age, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other legally protected class;
• Contain spam or links to malware and/or malicious content that affect the normal functioning of a computer system, server, or browser;
• Contain a hyperlink to any website other than those controlled by City. This will be done without regard to the viewpoint of the comment containing such a link or the content of the site to which the link redirects;
• Are duplicate comments posted repeatedly within a short period of time;
• Containing actual defamation against a specifically named person or organization, either as determined by a court or comments that are patently defamatory by easily discovered facts; or
• Violate a legal ownership interest of any person, including improper use of a trademark or copyrighted material.

The City may suspend, terminate, or ban Users and/or those committing violations of these terms and conditions. The City may also refer and work with the applicable Provider and the appropriate authorities to review and or pursue certain violations. 

The City will not accept service or submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process through City social media sites. Users seeking to properly serve the City with notice of any legal action or complaint must follow proper civil procedures as outlined by federal, state or local ordinance. 

The City may occasionally post links to third-party sites when the City determines that general information could be helpful. Please note this does not in any way constitute an official endorsement of the site or company, and it does not mean the City has performed a comprehensive validation of the content. 

CONTENT OWNERSHIP

Materials produced and posted to social media by the City are the property of the City. The City retains the copyright to all text, graphic images, and other content produced by the City. The City makes no warranty that information is free of copyright claims or other restrictions on free use. Commercial use is prohibited.

Users who choose to Comment on the City's social media sites, warrant and represent they are the copyright owner of the content or that the copyright owner of the content has granted permission to use such content consistent with the manner and purpose used. Using the City's social media sites to distribute unauthorized copies of copyrighted material, including photos, artwork, text, recordings, designs, computer programs, or derivative works of such programs is strictly prohibited, subject to removal, liability, and prosecution. Infringement on any party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, intellectual property, or other proprietary rights, or right of publicity or privacy is strictly prohibited and is the User's sole responsibility. 

Please note that by posting comments, posts, tagged photos, videos, ideas, or any other content on the City's social media sites, Users are granting the City non-exclusive, worldwide rights to republish, redistribute, or otherwise use this content (including your name, profile photo, likeness, and social media handle or other publicly shared information) in perpetuity in any way the City deems appropriate. Therefore, Users should not submit any ideas or materials they wish to keep confidential or for which they expect to receive compensation. 

MONITORING

The City's social media sites are monitored by City employees to support compliance with these terms and conditions. Please do not expect a response. If you want to communicate with a City official or employee, please contact the individual directly.

The City does not guarantee Comments are monitored regularly, and therefore, Users should not use this account to contact or provide notice to the City about dangerous conditions. If a dangerous condition exists, please contact the police department, fire department, public works, or other relevant City departments. If there is an emergency, contact 911.

DISCLAIMERS

The Social Media Terms and Conditions are a supplement to, not a replacement of the established City Communications Policy. 

The City does not guarantee the completeness or accuracy of any information posted on a social media platform. The City may suspend or discontinue using a social media platform at any time without notice. The information posted is provided on an “as is” basis and the User assumes the risk of use or reliance on such information. The City, its officers, employees, or agents are not liable for any injury or damages resulting from viewing, distributing, or copying materials on this account, including without limitation, liability for indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages. 

Users fully release the City from all claims that may arise regarding the use of or participation on the social media sites or the use, accessing, or posting of the content. Users agree that any claim or dispute relating to any content on a City social media site shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Utah without regard to its conflict of law’s provisions and you agree to be bound and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state or federal courts located in the State of Utah. 

(Adopted September 12, 2023)