City of Lakeland Social Media Policy

An important goal for the City of Lakeland is to support lines of communication with members of the public and to do so with a level of transparency that encourages citizen interaction. The use of social media enhances the ability to do this, particularly through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Nextdoor. The City of Lakeland offers social media platforms under the handle @LakelandGov as a public service to the community.

These accounts are not monitored in real-time. In case of public safety or a medical emergency, please call 911. Postings made by the City of Lakeland to our social media pages are done so with the intent of providing the public with information we believe is important or newsworthy. Posts can also serve as a notice regarding public safety, projects, initiatives, and services. The City of Lakeland reserves the right to limit posts/comments from members of the public to those that directly relate to our posts and conform to our guidelines. It is not the intent of the City of Lakeland to provide a venue or forum for the expression and/or posting of unlimited or unrelated comments, videos, or web links for the convenience of the public.

The City of Lakeland makes reasonable efforts to check all posts for accuracy, veracity, and completeness when posted. However, we make no guarantees to warrant posting reliability.

City of Lakeland social media posts are made in “good faith,” though circumstances may arise that cause details to change as new information develops. Should information posted by the City of Lakeland change, become stale, or be deemed inaccurate, the City of Lakeland will make a reasonable effort to update it as soon as possible once the issue has been discovered.

In an effort to encourage citizen interaction with the City of Lakeland, we welcome the posting of relevant comments to our social media pages. However, comments made by users may not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Lakeland and should not be viewed as an endorsement by the City of Lakeland. A user’s comments to a City of Lakeland social media post should not be considered accurate or verified. Under no circumstance will information be posted that compromises the safety of the public. This includes any third-party links that may appear on social media pages managed by the City of Lakeland.

All content on the City of Lakeland’s social media pages, including user comments and private messages, is considered property of the City of Lakeland and is subject to disclosure under Florida’s Public Records Act. Comments posted on the City of Lakeland’s social media pages are not considered private and are available to view by those accessing social media. The City of Lakeland urges you to protect your privacy and not list any personal or sensitive information about yourself when commenting on a post. The City of Lakeland does not guarantee your privacy when using social media and commenting on our social media platforms.

The City of Lakeland makes a conscious effort to reply to user comments to answer questions or offer updates. Unfortunately, the City of Lakeland cannot reply to every comment due to time constraints and other issues. Though we welcome your comments, there are specific guidelines we require when posting.

Comments must NOT contain any of the following:

Obscene, vulgar, sexually explicit, or otherwise offensive language/content or links to such material
Threats of any kind, particularly toward any City of Lakeland employee
The advocating of criminal acts or other illegal behavior
Material that has the potential to compromise public safety
Remarks that disparage or discriminate anyone based on their sex, race, creed, religious views, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability
Remarks considered libel
Anything that is clearly off the intended topic of discussion based on the original post
Information that is inaccurate, unverified, and designed to mislead others
Campaigning of any kind; political or otherwise
Links to third-party sites or advertisements
Any form of solicitation
Any other language, tone, and/or material deemed by City of Lakeland staff to be inappropriate or offensive

Any comments that violate these guidelines may be removed by the City of Lakeland at its sole discretion and without warning or notice but will be retained for the applicable retention period. The City of Lakeland reserves the right to block access to social media pages to any user who consistently violates these guidelines and may do so without warning or notice.

The City of Lakeland understands that some topics may bring about strong feelings from users. Still, we also ask that citizens use good judgment, common courtesy, and reasonableness when posting comments.