Social Media Policy

Baltimore County communicates with customers through many digital outlets, including www.baltimorecountymd.gov. Materials and information on this Site share information on matters of public interest related to Baltimore County, Maryland (“Baltimore County” or “County”.) Baltimore County also shares this information through its various Social Media Outlets. Baltimore County does not control, own, or operate these sites, which include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, and YouTube.

Please be aware that when engaging with Baltimore County through Social Media, you agree to the following:

CONTACTING BALTIMORE COUNTY

Baltimore County's Social Media Outlets are not monitored on a 24/7 basis. The County generally will not respond to comments on these outlets. For an emergency, contact 911.

For citizen complaints and to report concerns, contact the appropriate Baltimore County agency directly; a directory is available at https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/contact/department. Posting comments, posts, chat messages or submitting an email to the County through a Social Media Site does not constitute notice, legal or otherwise, to the County.

Baltimore County will generally not respond to email and chat messages sent to a Social Media Site. All such correspondence should be directed to the appropriate County agency.

POSTS AND COMMENTS

Baltimore County expects that participants and users will treat each other with respect. The County will delete comments that are spam, or that promote services or products.

Baltimore County does not moderate comments or posts but reserves the right to do so in their discretion, as allowable by law. Submissions may be restricted and deleted if in the County’s discretion they:

Incite, promote, or encourage criminal activities.
Contain information that may compromise the security, safety or health of the public.
Contain pornography, solicitation, defamatory, or sexually explicit material.
Contain obscene, defamatory or threatening language or discrimination based on race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, age, or disability.
Promote services or products (not including noncommercial links that are relevant to the topic).
Include any private or sensitive information (i.e. phone numbers, email or postal addresses).
Promote or advertise a business or commercial transaction.
Promote or oppose any person campaigning for election to a political office.
Post material that violates copyright, trademarks or intellectual property of others. Users may post or submit their own content, including photographs and videos, pursuant to the standards and terms of use articulated in this policy if they pertain to the subject matter of the Social Media Outlet. Users may post only their own, original content. Reproduced or borrowed content that appears to violate third party rights may be deleted.

OTHER TERMS OF USE

Baltimore County does not control Social Media Sites. The County is subject to the terms of use for its Social Media Outlets and does not control those terms. The County shall not be liable for any damages incurred due to errors, interruptions, inadequacies, or malicious computer code or components on a Social Media Site. The County does not warrant that all defects will be fixed. The materials contained on any Social Media Site are provided “as is,” and the user is under no obligation to use them. The County does not warrant the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of material on any Social Media Site. The County disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, for any of the materials provided on any Social Media Site, including but not limited to links to third parties and documents made available from the Social Media Site and the Social Media Site’s server, and any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or any improper or incorrect use of them.

The information contained on a Social Media Site is intended to duplicate or supplement, but not replace, information provided through official Baltimore County channels, such as www.baltimorecountymd.gov. Failure to enforce any provision herein does not constitute a waiver of such rights by Baltimore County. The information on any Social Media Site is not intended to serve as legal or financial advice.

Third Party Content And Comments Are Not Endorsed. Baltimore County does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with the 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.

Baltimore County cannot and does not authorize or control the use of copyrighted, trademarked or intellectual property materials contained in linked websites or posted by third parties and Users. Users should request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website or the owner of the intellectual property.

Baltimore County does not exercise any editorial control over the information users may find at external hyperlinks and linked web site locations. The County does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website. When users link to another web site, they are no longer on Baltimore County sites and are subject to the privacy policy of the new web site.

Any information or material placed online, including advice and opinions, are the views and responsibility of those making the comments and do not represent the views of Baltimore County or its third party service providers. Baltimore County does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites or the views they express or the products/services they offer.

When submitting a comment for posting, users agree that Baltimore County is not responsible, and shall have no liability to the user, with respect to external web sites, any information or materials posted by others or the user, including defamatory, criminal, offensive or illicit material and even material that violates this disclaimer. Users are fully responsible for the content they load on any of the County’s Social Media Outlets. The user is responsible for all copyright and intellectual property laws associated with this content.

Third Party External Hyperlinks. The views and opinions of authors expressed therein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Baltimore County and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Security and Privacy. The County is not responsible for the security or privacy of the County’s Social Media Outlets owned and/or controlled by third-party providers. Users of the County’s Social Media Outlets disclose information in their profiles that may be considered private information. The County does not have access to information not expressly shared by the User or the Social Media Site pursuant to their terms of service. The County may retain postings by Users, in its discretion, and as required by applicable law or County policy. Users are encouraged not to post personal or sensitive information as there is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality with respect to any content they post, message or submit to the Social Media Site, and the County has no responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality or privacy of any such information. Users must comply with the terms of use, security and privacy policies of the Social Media Site operator, and are subject to the Social Media Site operator’s practices regarding the collection and retention of passive information and other information about visitors.

Public Information. All postings may be subject to the Maryland Public Information Act and other public records and disclosure laws, as well as discovery in litigation. This includes, but is not limited to, information made available through a user’s privacy settings on their own social media and other Internet pages. Public Information Act requests, subpoenas, requests for assistance and legal service and/or complaints must be made directly to the County in accordance with law and not via a Social Media Site.

Editing and Deletions. Baltimore County reserves the right, but undertakes no duty, to review, edit, move or delete without notice any material submitted by users for display or placed on its Social Media Outlets. Inappropriate comments may be deleted at the sole discretion of Baltimore County.

Confidential, Personal and Investigative Information. Baltimore County will not share confidential, personal or investigative information on its Social Media Outlets.

ADA Compliance. Baltimore County does not guarantee that external websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended.

This social networking use policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time to ensure that its use is consistent with its intended purpose.