How the City Will Use Facebook

How the City of Bowie Will Use Facebook

The City’s intent is not to create a public forum, but to maintain a moderated online discussion directly relating to topics posted by the City, with language that is appropriate for citizens (including minors) to read. 

 All users and comments will be subject to the following guidelines and limitations  Posts or comments that violate this policy may be removed.  Any content removed based on these guidelines will be retained for one year. 

  • The conversation shall remain civil and respectful. 
  • Personal attacks of any kind, vulgar language, sexual content, offensive comments that target or disparage any ethnic, racial or religious group, or discriminatory or inflammatory posts by others are not permitted.
  • Entries shall not encourage or engage in illegal activity.
  • Those posting comments shall not include links to other websites and shall not include personal information about any person.
  • Postings shall not be a submission of any claim, demand, or legal or administrative notice or process.
  • Solicitations or endorsements of businesses or religious or political causes are not permitted.
  • Comments in support of or in opposition to political campaigns or political issues are not permitted.
  • Political candidates should instead establish their own sites, pages, and accounts.
  • Elected officials are discouraged from discussing campaigns, issues and other political matters on City accounts.
  • Comments and posts must comply with terms of use agreements as stipulated by the owner of the tool (i.e. Facebook).
  • Comments must be topically related to the City of Bowie posting.
  • No SPAM is permitted.
  • The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed to be in violation of the Terms of Service, the City of Bowie Social Media Policy or any applicable law.  Any participants on City of Bowie official social media sites who are in continual violation of these guidelines may be permanently removed from the City’s site.
  • Comments posted to City of Bowie social media sites will be monitored by the Public Information Office. The City will not necessarily respond to comments on its social media sites or to posts made about the City of Bowie on other sites. Content, comments and postings to this page are official records of the City of Bowie and as such are subject to the Public Information Act for the State of Maryland.
  • The Public Information Office will correct errors where appropriate.  When and if the City responds to a post or to a comment, every effort will be made to make the response timely (during business hours), honest, consistent with other information on the subject offered by the City and factual. 
  • The City’s social media sites are not the appropriate place to post service requests, urgent needs or to discuss problems of a personal nature. These types of comments or requests should be directed to City staff via telephone, email, or the Ask Bowie Gov tool on the website.