Purpose of Policy
The City of Paducah, Kentucky, Government engages citizens and customers through various digital outlets, including this website and citizen service request portal, Paducah 311. Communicating with the City of Paducah through social media further enables customers to contact the City in a direct and meaningful way and for the City of Paducah to build communication and trust with our residents and visitors.
Social Media Goals
The City of Paducah, Kentucky, Government aims to effectively use social media accounts including Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, Nextdoor, and Youtube to
- Provide information.
- Support community engagement and outreach.
- Support marketing and promotional campaigns.
- Frame the public conversation around City of Paducah programs, policies, and projects,
- Assist with recruitment efforts.
As designated, albeit limited public forums, the goal of the City of Paducah social media pages that allow public interaction in the form of comments is to be a helpful medium conducive to real-time discussions and useful feedback regarding the topics and matters identified and raised by the City of Paducah on its pages.
Commenting on a City of Paducah Social Media Site
The City of Paducah shares information, images, and video with the public through external social media websites. Comments made by the public to these sites are reviewed and, while comments will not be edited by City of Paducah personnel, a comment may be deleted, rejected, or hidden if it violates the comment policy described as follows.
- Malicious or harmful software.
- Comments posted by automatic software programs (i.e. bots).
- Advertisements, promotions, or solicitations of a commercial product or service.
- Confidential, sensitive, or private information.
- Obscene, indecent or profane language, pictures and/or videos.
- Threats of violence or to public safety.
- Copyrighted or trademarked materials in violation of state or federal law.
- Comments not related to the posted topic for the City of Paducah social media page or post.
- Disruptively repetitive content.
- Violate any local, state, or federal laws and/or is otherwise unlawful.
Third Party Content and Users
The City of Paducah Communications Manager and other City social media representatives monitor the City of Paducah’s social media accounts. However, neither they, nor the City of Paducah, Kentucky, Government, its divisions, departments, officials, or programs, are responsible for the content generated by third party users on these platforms.
Third Party Users are permitted to submit or post comments, messages, or content, including photographs, videos, and hyperlinks, to an official City of Paducah site where the agency allows users to post content as long as the content meets the standards articulated in this Customer Use Policy.
Third Party Users should have no expectation of privacy when posting to a City of Paducah site. Third Party Users are participating on City of Paducah sites at their own risk, taking personal responsibility for comments and content, username, and any information provided.
Any user created content or comment is the opinion of the user only, and publication of any user created content or comment does not necessarily imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City of Paducah, Kentucky, Government, its divisions, departments, officials, or programs.
Open Records and Retention
Each City of Paducah social media account serves as a limited public forum, and all content published in addition to communications sent to or received by the City of Paducah and its employees via social media is subject to disclosure as a public record in accordance with the Kentucky Open Records Act and retention schedules outlined by the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives.
The City of Paducah is required to comply with the Retention Schedules to ensure that the public has access to public records and information of which our agency is the custodian. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (e.g. digital text, photos, audio, and video).
All information posted on City of Paducah social media sites may be subject to public disclosure, even if it has been deleted. The City of Paducah shall preserve records pursuant to the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives Retention Schedules. Deleted comments will be kept on file by the Communications Manager and/or City Clerk’s Office in accordance with Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives Retention Schedules.
Emergency Postings
City of Paducah social media sites are not monitored 24/7. If there is an emergency, contact 911.
Questions or Concerns
Questions or concerns regarding the City of Paducah’s social media activity and/or this Customer Use Policy should be submitted to the Communications Manager. To contest the removal of a comment, the user must submit to the Communications Manager a written statement providing grounds for publication of the comment. Requests shall be responded to within a reasonable time.
This comment policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time.
