Terms of use –
By posting content on this page you agree to comply with the terms and conditions of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. In particular you represent, warrant and agree that no content submitted, posted, transmitted, or shared by you will infringe upon the rights of any third party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy; or contain defamatory or discriminatory or otherwise unlawful material.
User-generated Content and Disclaimer –
The City of Tuscaloosa (City) accepts no responsibility or liability for any data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, images, video, messages, or any other materials whatsoever generated by users and publicly posted on this page. The City does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by users is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. Any content, views, opinions and/or responses to questions submitted by users, are solely the views, opinions and responsibility of the person submitting them and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the City.
Copyright –
The content on this page is subject to copyright laws. Unless you own the rights in the content, you may not reproduce, adapt or communicate without the written permission of the copyright owner nor use the content for commercial purposes.
Content Removal –
The City expects that users will treat each other, as well its departments and employees, respectfully. The City reserves the right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) any content and remove or ban users at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever and to terminate user access to this Facebook/Twitter/Instagram page. The City will remove comments that contain vulgar or abusive language; personal attacks of any kind; spam or other promotion of products or services; aggressive behavior; unlawful content. Do not misrepresent yourself or take on the identity of someone else while using this service. If you believe that someone has misrepresented your identity on the site, please email us at socialmedia@tusclaoosa.com. The City may report to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram all users posting inappropriate or offensive material and shall not be obliged to reinstate any individual it blocks.
Response –
The City welcomes feedback and ideas from all of its followers. The City is not able to reply individually to all the messages it receives; however, the City does read all comments and messages. Monitoring and responding to the site will generally be undertaken during regular business hours only.
Weather Alerts –
Weather alerts are not generated by the City and are forwarded from outside sources; therefore, the City is not responsible for the accuracy or timeliness of weather alerts. The City is forwarding weather alerts as a service to users, but the City recommends users stay tuned to local television stations and to NOAA weather radio when severe weather is threatening.
Copyright Notices
All content © City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and its representatives. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
The City of Tuscaloosa’s World Wide Web page is not an official statement of City policy, law, practice, services, or procedure, and should not be construed as such. It is intended only to give general information about the City.
Although we make an effort to post only accurate information, we cannot guarantee that the information we make available is always correct or current. The City of Tuscaloosa does not warrant or make any representations as to the quality, content, accuracy, or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links and other items contained in this World Wide Web site. Consequently, no one should rely upon any information contained herein, nor make any decisions or take any action based on such information. The City of Tuscaloosa is not responsible for any action taken in reliance on the information contained herein.
Communications made through this site’s email and messaging system is for convenience only, and shall not be deemed to constitute legal notice to the City of Tuscaloosa or any of its officers, agents, agencies, employees, or representatives with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of action, or for any other purpose. Email communications are not secure and should never be used to transmit private, confidential, or privileged information. Email messages can be accidentally or intentionally diverted, intercepted, lost, or deleted without being read by the intended recipient, and consequently important communications should be made through more conventional means.
While certain words and comments are not considered protected speech under the first amendment, any retraction or deletion of public comments must be done so by established polices and protocols and any such deletions must be thoroughly vetted and determined under an established policy that the speech or comments were not protected.
If there is any latitude or discretion or any indication of arbitrary decisions regarding which comments are deleted, there is a potential first amendment violation and litigation issue. A City social media page is considered a public forum administered by the City of Tuscaloosa by and through a partner or department.
“Online speech is just as important as a citizen airing their grievance in a public park – just because the speech is virtual, doesn’t mean it is not protected.”
Seek the advice of the City legal department if there are comments which are questionable as to whether they are considered non-protected speech. Another option is for the partner/department to use the social media page for informational purposes only and to disable the page to receive comments.