Social Media Policy S 1223

Administration, Social Media Policy

• Policy number S 1223 NEW, effective October 25, 2022.
• The policy is administered by the Fire Chief, James Davis.
• The policy is reviewed annually.
• The purpose of the policy is to outline the expectations, restrictions, and prohibitions on the use of social media by personnel whether on or off-duty.
• The policy provides guidance to maintain professionalism and uphold public confidence of the FWFD.
• It is not intended to replace existing City of Fort Worth Personnel Rules and Regulations.

Definitions

• Social media includes internet and mobile-based applications, websites, and functions, other than email, for sharing and discussing information. Content includes photos, videos, comments and links to other information to create content on any imaginable topic.
• Social media is also referred to as “user-generated content” or "consumer-generated media.”
• Social media includes networking sites, video and photo sharing sites, blogs or vlogs, social news sites, wikis, or any new web-based platforms generally regarded as social media.
• Social media is constantly changing as new technology and uses are developed.
• The policy is meant to include any social media interaction, such as a “post,” “profile,” "comment.”

General Information

• The Fire Chief reserves the right to enforce a social media policy and standard of professional conduct associated with social media use as designated by the City of Fort Worth.
• All FWFD personnel are required to adhere to this policy as well as existing City Personnel Rules and Regulations when using social media.
• As public employees, FWFD personnel are reminded that speech is subject to reasonable restrictions and speech related to official duties is not always protected under the First Amendment.
• Some speech posted on social media may lead to disciplinary action against the employee.
• This media policy aligns with City of Fort Worth Personnel Rules and Regulations for General Employees (Section 13) and the City of Fort Worth Personal Social Media Usage Policy.
• FWFD has the right to monitor and review postings made by employees to ensure compliance with the Department policy.

Professionalism and Public Confidence

• Professional appearance is important to public safety and the public’s confidence and trust.
• To maintain professionalism and public confidence, FWFD members shall not post information that is detrimental or conflicts the values of the FWFD or the City of Fort Worth.
• Personnel shall not disseminate protected, private, nonpublic, or confidential information including matters under investigation, Protected Health Information (PHI), personnel matters protected from disclosure law, “Internal Use Only” official communications, or information from active incidents.
• Dissemination of information or speech meant to prevent or erode the confidence of the FWFD or undermine the discipline and harmony among employees of the Department is prohibited.

Use of Social Media by FWFD Personnel

• Rules are provided to clearly define acceptable use of social media for all personnel when using social media whether on or off-duty.
• Personnel are free to express themselves as a private citizen as long as their speech does not impede the mission of the department, affect the performance and duties of the FWFD, its employees, fellow co-workers, or compromise the public’s perception of the department.
• All FWFD personnel will maintain a level of professionalism when engaging on social media whether on or off-duty.
• Personnel may not disclose confidential information regarding the department, its members, or release confidential information from third parties, including information protected under HIPAA.
• Personnel should not engage in speech that is false, deceptive, slanderous, lewd, lascivious, misleading, or causes harm to others including speech that constitutes harassment.
• Personnel are responsible for all content they publish on social media and/or their affiliation through engagement such as liking, sharing, re-tweeting, or reposting.
• Personnel will not portray themselves as representatives or make statements on behalf of FWFD unless authorized by the Fire Chief (or his/her designee).
• Personnel must have no expectation of privacy while using FWFD-owned or leased equipment, even when merely using this equipment to access personal email or social media.
• FWFD reserves the right to block access from its networks and assets to any internet and/or social media site at its sole discretion, as permitted by applicable law.
• When representing the FWFD, either on-duty or in uniform, digital images taken with or without approval of a supervisor or the Public Information Office are property of the FWFD and are subject to Public Information Requests (PIR) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests.
• Includes videos and photos from incidents, drills, activities within the station, department-sponsored activities, training, cell phone/phone records, etc.

Use of Digital Images

• The intent of this section is to address posting to social media from the incident and occur immediately after the incident that may impact family notification and awareness; it is not intended to restrict the re-post from official department sanctioned posting of incidents.
• FWFD employees will not allow the capturing of photographs or video to interfere with the primary mission of their assignment or impact the ability to complete the task at hand.
• FWFD safety standards will not be compromised for the purpose of taking photos or other media opportunities. All efforts will be made to protect oneself (including proper PPE, safety gear, etc.) when taking photos or filming video on scene of an incident.
• Digital images obtained during incidents may be part of an investigation, serve as evidence, and are subject to Public Information Requests/FOIA Requests.
• Digital images taken during incidents can be sent to the Public Information Office for proper vetting and dissemination; PIO and Fire Chief reserve the right to utilize the images as they see fit for media use, education, training, community engagement, and public relations.
• Submit any request for photography/videography from an outside agency is immediately reported through the chain of command to the fire chief and public information officer.
• Only approved digital images taken during incidents submitted to the Public Information Office may be posted to official FWFD social media accounts to maintain consistency.
• FWFD personnel are encouraged to share posts from official FWFD accounts on their social media/FWFD approved accounts; contact PIO for consideration on images members want posted.
• Taking digital images on-duty during official department ceremonies are subject to this social media policy.
• Taking images off-duty during official department ceremonies can be posted on a personal social media account but are subject to this policy.
• Taking digital images on-duty during non-incident/departmental-sponsored activities are subject to this policy.
• For images taken during non-Department-sponsored activities, using FWFD insignia, logo, uniform, employees, or equipment to promote an entity, must obtain permission from Fire Chief.
• Personnel can submit digital images to the Public Information Office for review and dissemination by: emailing [email protected].

Station /Division Social Media Accounts

• FWFD stations, bureaus and divisions with social media accounts intend to disseminate department-related content; station social media accounts are linked to the Fort Worth Fire Department homepage.
• All accounts linked to the Fort Worth Fire Department must follow policy.
• Violation of this policy may include of the social media account and/or disciplinary action.
• Enforce reporting violations through the Chain of Command to the Fire Chief.