49ͼ Social Media Policy
The 49ͼ uses the following policies to guide the use of social media sites in accordance with the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Social Media Policy:
Linking
49ͼ may make available social media applications, and may publish social media content to third-party sites. These sites are not official 49ͼ websites and therefore, the external sites’ policies apply. Please refer to the 49ͼ Linking Policy for more information.
Privacy
Only public information is permitted to be posted by 49ͼ or its designee on 49ͼ social media websites. If communication that takes place on 49ͼ social media websites involves or requires private information, communication will be redirected through other appropriate channels. Postings from the public on 49ͼ social media sites become public record and may be posted on the 49ͼ website. This information may be subject to public information requests. For more information about public information requests, please refer to the 49ͼ Public Information Requests Policy.
No personally identifiable information without an individual’s permission, unless captured during a public meeting, will be posted on 49ͼ social media sites by 49ͼ personnel. 49ͼ is not responsible for content posted by others to 49ͼ social media sites. 49ͼ users that enter personal information on 49ͼ social media sites do so at their own risk; 49ͼ is not responsible for the public display of such private information. 49ͼ may remove postings to its social media sites that contain personally identifiable information, but neither 49ͼ, nor its licensors or contractors, are responsible for any damages caused by delays in such removal.
Public Information and Record Retention
Social media sites may contain communications sent to or received by state employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to State Records Retention requirements. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (digital text, photos, audio, or video, for example).
To the extent that the third-party records retention policies are inconsistent with the Texas State Record Retention Schedule, 49ͼ will put forth reasonable efforts to archive copies of social media content in order to meet state records retention obligations.
Terms of Service
49ͼ social media sites are third party sites and have terms of service and policies that are not governed by 49ͼ or the State of Texas. These third- party sites are not official 49ͼ websites and the third party’s website terms of service and policies apply. The terms of service for the social media sites used by tea.texas.gov can be found below:
Content of Social Media Posts
All published 49ͼ social media content is subject to monitoring. This content may take the form of digital text for Twitter and Facebook, photography images for Flickr and Instagram, and videos for YouTube.
User-generated posts are subject to rejection or removal when the content of a post:
- is off-subject or out of context
- contains obscenity or material that appeals to the prurient interest
- contains personal identifying information or sensitive personal information, as defined in Tex. Code Bus & Com. Sec. 521.001 et. seq.
- contains offensive terms that target protected classes
- contains personal attacks or insulting statements directed toward an individual
- is threatening, harassing or discriminatory
- incites or promotes violence or illegal activities
- contains information that reasonably could compromise public safety
- advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual
- promotes or endorses political campaigns or candidates
- are of a repetitive or “spamming” nature (the same comment posted multiple times)
In the above instances, 49ͼ may remove content without notifying the poster.
Accessibility: To accommodate 49ͼ users with disabilities, (outside source) is the suggested alternative access to the @teainfo Twitter profile.
Record Retention: 49ͼ Twitter content will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Accessibility: To accommodate 49ͼ users with disabilities, there are two suggested alternatives to access the 49ͼ Facebook Fan page:
- The is a suggested accessible alternative to the original 49ͼ Facebook page.
- 49ͼ generally posts the same content to Twitter and Facebook. Therefore,(outside source)will serve as an accessiblealternative.
Record Retention: 49ͼ Facebook updates will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Flickr
Accessibility: To accommodate 49ͼ users with disabilities, the is the suggested alternative to access 49ͼ’s photo pool.
Record Retention: The following tea.texas.gov Flickr photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule:
- Photos posted to Flickr by 49ͼ
- Photos not accepted by 49ͼ due to noncompliance with submission guidelines
Content: By submitting a photo to the 49ͼ Flickr pool, you are giving 49ͼ permission to use your photo on the 49ͼ homepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms. For more information about photo submission guidelines, visit the .
YouTube
Accessibility: 49ͼ will make an effort to link to and display videos on its YouTube channel that have closed captioning available for hearing impaired viewers.
Record Retention: The 49ͼ YouTube videos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Content: Videos displayed on the 49ͼ YouTube site will be related to Texas or Texas education.
Record Retention: The following 49ͼ Instagram photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule:
- Photos posted to Instagram by 49ͼ
- Photos not accepted by 49ͼ due to noncompliance with submission guidelines
Content: By submitting a photo to the 49ͼ via Instagram, you are giving 49ͼ permission to use your photo on the 49ͼ homepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms.
49ͼ Media RelationsDivision
(512) 463-9000
MediaRelations@tea.texas.gov