CCP136 Transparency Laws and Social Media (Amd 5-7-24)CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
TRANSPARENCY LAWS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 1 of 3 2/16/2021 136
(Amend. 5/7/2024)
Background and Purpose
The City Council, as the legislative body of the City of San Juan Capistrano, hereby
adopts the following policy regarding the private use of social media by City Officials and
Staff, as defined herein. This policy is adopted, in part, in light of the Brown Act, the Public
Records Act, and First Amendment case law.
The City of San Juan Capistrano recognizes that social media has become an integral
channel of communication for individual members of the City Council with members of the
public. However, such communications must be balanced against legal obligations with
respect to transparency in the conduct of the people’s business. For example, the Brown Act
requires that legislative bodies of public agencies deliberate and take action openly. (Gov.
Code §§ 54950 et seq.). Moreover, communications regarding City business on private
accounts may be subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. (Gov. Code §§ 6250 et
seq.) City officials and staff are not restricted by the First Amendment when posting from
their private accounts (and can therefore delete comments or block users). Therefore, one
of the purposes of this Policy is to make it more clear that those City officials and staff are
speaking as private individuals and are not speaking on the City’s behalf. (See Lindke v.
Freed (2024) 601 U.S. 187.) To that end, the following protocol will be followed.
Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
“City” shall mean the City of San Juan Capistrano.
“City business” shall mean information relating to the conduct of the public’s
business or communications concerning matters within the subject matter of the City’s
jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, pending or potential City projects, past or
prospective City agenda items, or City budgets or expenditures involving City funds.
“City Officials and Staff” shall mean any elected or appointed City
Councilmember/Board Director or commissioner sitting on a legislative body of the City,
any City employee, any City consultant, and any City volunteer.
“Social media platforms” means an online service that is “open and accessible to the
public.” “Open and accessible to the public” means that members of the general public have
the ability to access and participate, free of charge, in the social media platform without the
approval by the social media platform or a person or entity other than the social media
platform, including any forum and chatroom, and cannot be blocked from doing so, except
when the internet-based social media platform determines that an individual violated its
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
TRANSPARENCY LAWS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 2 of 3 2/16/2021 136
(Amend. 5/7/2024)
protocols or rules. Examples of social media platforms include Snapchat, Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, TikTok and Reddit.
Policy/Protocols
1. Public Records Act: City Officials and Staff should be aware that their posts,
comments, and responses about City business on social media platforms, whether
on public or private pages, may be subject to disclosure under the Public Records
Act.
2. First Amendment: City Officials and Staff are not authorized to speak on social media
on behalf of the City on social media platforms, except in cases where explicitly
authorized in accordance with City policy or regulation.
In determining whether posts on a private social media platform or individual posts
should be subject to First Amendment protection, courts will undergo a two-part test
to determine whether the City official or staff member (1) possessed actual authority
to speak on the City’s behalf on a particular matter, and (2) purported to exercise
that authority when speaking in the relevant social-media posts. When a personal
social media platform contains a disclaimer that the individual is not speaking on the
City’s behalf, it creates a strong presumption that the page, and all posts therein, are
personal. Therefore, the City strongly encourages City Officials and Staff to include
the following statement, or a similar statement, on their private social media
platforms, “This is the personal social media page of [NAME]. The statements I make
on this page are my own and are not official statements of the City of San Juan
Capistrano.”
If there are reasons to believe that a City Official or Staff’s private social media page or
post should be attributed to the City, City Officials or Staff should refrain from blocking
members of the public from the page or deleting comments with which they disagree.
City Officials or Staff should consult with the City Attorney’s Office if they have questions
or concerns about complying with this social media policy, the exercise of their First
Amendment rights, or any restrictions as to their personal conduct on social media.
In addition, it is recommended that City Official or Staff member include a written policy,
clearly visible on the social media page, establishing guidelines for comments, content,
and the right to restrict or remove content deemed inappropriate or in violation of the
stated policy.1
1 Recommendation for City Officials to include a written policy establishing posting guidelines to their individual
social media platforms was incorporated into this policy on November 1, 2022.
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COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
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Background and Purpose
The City Council, as the legislative body of the City of San Juan Capistrano,
hereby adopts the following policy to establish a process for appropriate use of online
social media sites for City related communication, business, and marketing, as well as
guidelines related to social media commenting. This Policy shall apply to members of
the City Council, all City appointed officials, employees, members of City commissions,
committees and boards, City contract personnel, City volunteers, and members of the
public, as is appropriate.
This City Council Policy shall establish oversight and administration for use of
Social Media Platforms to further the communication efforts of the City. This Policy
applies to all users and visitors to the City's social media sites.
Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
“City Manager” shall mean the City Manager of the City of San Juan Capistrano,
or their designee(s).
“City Manager Weekly Update” shall be defined as the periodic electronic
publication distributed by the City Manager.
“City Official” shall mean any elected or appointed City Councilmember/Board
Director or commissioner sitting on a legislative body of the Agency.
“City Social Media Platform” shall mean any Social Media Platform that the City
establishes, manages, maintains, updates, or causes to be established, managed,
maintained, or updated on behalf of the City, to serve the public, regardless of whether
or not the City owns the servers, equipment, networks or software platforms on which
such platforms reside. For the purpose of this policy, City Social Media Platform refers
only to Facebook and Instagram 1.
“City-Sponsored/City-Endorsed Programs, Services, or Events” shall mean any
program, service, or event that is developed, implemented, and/or funded (including by
in-kind materials and services) partially or in its entirety by the City. Additionally, the City
may choose to post content from organizations with which the City has an established
formal relationship.
1 Policy amended to include use of Instagram, approved by the City Council at its October 3, 2023,
meeting.
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Subject: Effective Policy
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“Content” shall mean any information, data, document, text, music, audio,
photographs, graphics, videos, messages or other material uploaded and/or posted on
a City Social Media Platform.
“Designated City Staff” shall mean any person designated by the City Manager
who represents the City of San Juan Capistrano and establishes, manages, updates,
and/or maintains a Social Media Platform.
“Service Provider” shall mean any person or entity that owns, operates, or
maintains a Social Media Platform.
“Social Media Platform” shall mean any internet-based websites, mobile
applications, blogs, wiki pages, user-generated video and audio sites, and any other
online social network for the purposes of disseminating information.
“User” shall mean any member of the public accessing a City Social Media
Platform.
General Guidelines
1. The City shall only use Facebook and Instagram as its Social Media Platform.
2. City Content to be posted: articles from the City Manager Weekly Updates will
periodically be posted on a timeline established by the City Manager; additional
emergency and or timely content of community wide interest may also be posted as
determined by the City Manager.
3. The City’s website (sanjuancapistrano.org), or any successor website, will remain
the City’s primary and predominant form of internet communication.
A. Wherever possible, City Social Media Platform (i.e. Facebook page and
Instagram page) will link back to the City website for additional information,
forms, documents, online services or additional content necessary to
communicate with or conduct business with the City.
B. Where appropriate, content posted to City Social Media Platforms will also be
available on the City’s official website.
4. No City Department or Division may establish its own City Social Media Platform.
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Subject: Effective Policy
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5. Any Content posted on any City Social Media Platform shall be consistent with the
current communications efforts, goals and initiatives of the City, as determined by
the City Manager.
A. All content posted by Designated Staff shall be preapproved by the City
Manager.
B. Any Designated City Staff who post Content on the City’s Social Media
Platform shall not express their own personal views or concerns through such
content.
6. The City Social Media Platform shall comply with the terms, conditions, privacy
policy, and any other usage rules and regulations provided by the Service Provider.
7. The City Social Media Platform shall comply with any style guides, specific usage
standards, and any other City branding as determined by the City Manager.
8. The City Social Media Platform shall adhere to applicable federal, state and local
laws, regulations and policies, including all applicable City policies and guidelines.
9. The City Manager reserves the right to monitor, update, modify, control, add or
remove City Content, and/or temporarily deactivate any City Social Media Platform
at any time.
10. The ability to comment will be disabled on posts, video, etc.; however, any visitor to
the site may reshare a City post.
11. On every post the City shall provide contact information for members of the public to
submit comments or correspondence to the City related to the content posted.
12. All City Officials shall comply with City Council Policy 136, Transparency Laws and
Social Media Policy (Attachment 1), when resharing City content on personal social
media accounts.
13. The City does not monitor or maintain City Official Social Media accounts or
platforms.
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COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
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Records Management and Privacy
Content posted on a City social media platform may be subject to disclosure pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Cal. Gov't Code Section 7920.000 et seq.) and will be
retained in accordance with the City’s record retention policy.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: City Council Policy 136 – Transparency Laws and Social Media Policy