Dakota County (“county") uses social media to: (1) provide accurate, consistent, and timely information about county functions, services and activities to the public; and (2) to strengthen the county's relationship with the community through engagement.
The county reserves the right to reject or remove comments determined to be incompatible with the purpose of the county's official social media presence. The county will not reject or remove comments based upon the views expressed and will not edit individuals' comments.
Examples of comments that may be rejected or removed:
- Comments not topically related to the county's page or the county's original post;
- Comments regarding political matters not directly related to the county's page or county's original post;
- Vulgar, profane, abusive, threatening, defamatory, or harassing language or content;
- Offensive terms targeting individuals or groups;
- Misleading or deceptive information;
- Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, sex, marital status, public assistance status, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation;
- Sexual content;
- Suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity;
- Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the county, public systems, individuals, or public at large;
- Promotion or endorsement of commercial services, products, or entities;
- Content that violates trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights or legal ownership interest of another party; and
- Content classified as not public under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act or other state or federal privacy law or regulation.
Although county staff may schedule social media posts for evenings and weekends, accounts are not monitored outside of the county's normal business hours (8 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday- Friday, not including any holidays).
Advertising
The county does not does not authorize, promote, or endorse any advertisements that may appear on any county social media.
Data Retention and Classification
Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to county business, including a list of subscribers and county or public posted communication, may be public information subject to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Ch. 13. The county does not classify its social media posts or comments as official records under the Minnesota Official Records Act, Minn. Stat. § 15.17.