Policy Advisory Mass.gov Social Media Policy

Date:	06/03/2021
Referenced Sources:	M.G.L. Ch. 7D Section 2 M.G.L. Ch. 7D Section 4C

To highlight our commitment to transparency in government, Mass.gov provides web-based tools for outreach, education, and information. These tools are not intended to replace the channels currently in place for press and constituent communication. Rather, these tools are meant to augment our ability to educate, empower, and inform the residents of Massachusetts. Social Media inquiries should be directed to Erica Seery at [e-mail]. 

Please note that Records Retention Law of the Commonwealth requires the Mass.gov team to preserve records created or received by a state employee. Pursuant to this retention requirement comments posted or messages received via an official state agency page on a third-party web-site (such as an official agency profile on a social network) will be treated as state governmental records and may be permanently archived. Information that you submit voluntarily through social media sites associated with this agency where such information is publically available, including your name, city or town, and the substance of anything that you post may be disseminated further by being posted online at this website or be publicly discussed by a member of the administration.

The policies below pertain only to Mass.gov content; individual agencies may have different policies. Please be sure to review the privacy policies and terms of use for any social media accounts you access through a link from Mass.gov as they may differ based on the agency hosting the content.

The information below pertains only to Mass.gov.

Blogs

As of July 1, 2013, the Mass.gov blogs are hosted under the subdomain http://blog.mass.gov/ (collectively, the “Blogs”), as well as on WP Engine. WP Engine is also subject to website policies of that provider including its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. These policies apply to your use of the Blogs. The Blogs have their own privacy policy comment policy, terms of use and linking policy. The Blogs use the Mass.Gov web accessibility statement and this social media policy.

Your third-party social media accounts

Many pages on Mass.gov and on the Blogs allow you to interact with your own third-party social media accounts on an affirmative basis. For example, from a post on a Blog, you may click a button to “like” a post on your Facebook™ account or to pin a post to your Pinterest™ account. Clicking such a third-party social media button on Mass.gov or on a Blog may prompt you to log into the relevant third-party social media provider if you are not already logged in and should work in the same manner as if you logged in to the third-party social media provider directly (e.g., it may set one or more persistent cookies as a result of logging in). If you are already logged in, or once you are logged in, to the third-party social media provider, the button will facilitate your interaction with that third-party social media provider. Moreover, when you add content from Mass.gov or from a Blog to your third-party social media account, it is possible that your public account information can be associated with Mass.gov or Blog content that you are posting. For example, if you retweet a Mass.gov tweet (more information on the Mass.gov Twitter™ account is at the bottom of this policy), someone could use Twitter to search for a keyword in the original tweet and, potentially, see your public account information.

In addition to your interaction with third-party social media providers on an affirmative basis, we may use widgets that interact on a limited basis (e.g., by accessing a preexisting persistent cookie) with your third-party social media provider solely by virtue of your viewing a webpage on Mass.gov or on the Blogs. We will try to note in our privacy policy for Mass.gov or for the Blogs when we are using such a third-party social media widget. For example, if we use a Facebook widget to display “Likes,” the widget may check with Facebook when you access the page to see if you have already “Liked” the page. If you have, the “Like” button may present you with the option of un-“liking” the post. Similarly, if we use a Twitter widget to display a Twitter feed with a “Follow” option, the widget may check with Twitter to determine if are already “following” that feed and present you with the option to un-“follow” the feed. In these instances, it is technically possible for the third-party social media provider to track your movements across Mass.gov  and across the Blogs.

These third-party social media accounts will be governed by their own separate website policies to which you likely agreed when you signed up. These website policies usually include a privacy policy and terms of service. These policies apply to your use of the third-party social media account.

RSS Feeds

While you can always check Mass.gov for regular updates, it's often easier to have information come to you. RSS lets you do just that. When you subscribe to an RSS feed, updates come to you as we post them.

Mass.gov and many agencies offer RSS feeds to press releases and other relevant news and information. Get more information about RSS feeds and how to use them.

Twitter

To view the Mass.gov Twitter page, visit www.twitter.com/massgov. Twitter is a free social networking site that allows users to send and read other users' short updates (up to 140 characters in length). While people use Twitter in many different ways for both personal and professional reasons, as a matter of policy:

• The Mass.gov use of Twitter is intended as a means to provide announcements and updates on current events or notices to any other users who elect to watch or follow our Twitter feed and to engage with constituents to provide customer service regarding state services.
• The account is maintained and monitored by members of the Mass.gov team.
• We do not as a matter of course follow individuals who follow us, but we do follow other official government-sponsored Twitter accounts, including official state agency Twitter accounts, media, and others as deemed appropriate by Mass.gov.
• Twitter is one of the many means we're using to connect residents with their government. We'll review and update Twitter as much as possible as we monitor and maintain other channels of feedback.
• Unless you protect your updates, messages you post on Twitter received by the Agency may be public records and may also be publicly available. Because not everyone knows that we are on Twitter, we occasionally search for tweets that talk about Mass.gov but don't reference our account, "@massgov" and let that user know about our account. We periodically perform these searches to enable us to more effectively listen to and engage with constituents.
• Mass.gov will not respond via Twitter to press inquiries and reserves the right to respond to resident questions, complaints, or other constituent matters.
• Also note that this micro-blog is hosted by Twitter and is governed by Twitter's separate website policies, including its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service These policies apply to your use of Twitter.

Facebook

To view the Mass.gov Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com/massgov. While people use Facebook in many different ways for both personal and professional reasons, as a matter of policy:

• The Mass.gov use of Facebook is intended as a means to provide announcements and updates on current events or notices to any other users who elect to “Like” our Facebook page and to engage with constituents to provide customer service regarding state services.
• The account is maintained and monitored by members of the Mass.gov social media team.
• Facebook is one of the many means we're using to connect residents with their government. We'll review and update Facebook as much as possible as we monitor and maintain other channels of feedback.
• Unless you protect your updates, messages, or comments you post to Mass.gov’s Facebook page may be public records and may also be publicly available.
• We expect conversations to follow the rules of polite discourse and we ask that participants treat each other, as well as our employees, with respect. The following comments will be removed if posted:
  • Profanity and vulgar or abusive language
  • Threats of physical or bodily harm
  • Sensitive information (for example, information that could compromise public safety)
  • Offensive terms that target protected classes, such as ethnic, racial sexual orientation, transgendered, or religious groups
  • Any other comments found by the Mass.gov social media team to be offensive, inappropriate, or illegal
• For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain “on-topic.” This means that comments must relate to the topic that is being discussed within the particular social media site.
• Mass.Gov will not respond via Facebook to press inquiries but will try to respond to resident questions, complaints, or other constituent matters when an answer is readily available, or refer people to the proper Executive Office.
• Also note that Facebook is governed by Facebook's separate website policies, including its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. These policies apply to your use of Facebook.

Instagram

To both increase transparency and save money on photo hosting and streaming, Mass.gov publishes photo content, to our Instagram account at https://instagram.com/massgov

Mass.gov is responsible solely for the content uploaded to the official Instagram account, and not for any related videos or linked photos linked from other users, nor for any advertising or other content contained on the Instagram application or website.

If you use any of our photos for another work, such as a story, blog post, printing, etc., we require that you provide credit by stating at or near the photo, "Photo courtesy of [insert description of credit]."

Also note that this photo share is hosted by Instagram and is governed by Instagram’s separate website policies, including its Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. These policies apply to your use of Instagram.