Digital Policy

Many Peoria County offices have official social media accounts, and all fall under this general Peoria County policy unless otherwise stated. Peoria County endeavors to post this policy on all accounts where applicable. However, for social media platforms where it is difficult to post a full policy, Peoria County will link to this page, which serves as the posting.

Our social media sites are not monitored 24/7. Please call or text 911 in an emergency. 

The intent of official Peoria County social media accounts is to serve as a communications tool between Peoria County departments and the public. Peoria County communications department staff and/or specific department personnel associated with the social media account are the sole administrators of our sites. This social media policy includes Terms of Use, Prohibited Content, and Disclaimers. 

Terms of Use

As a communications tool, Peoria County shall utilize its various social media accounts to raise awareness among Peoria County and neighboring residents and visitors, community partners, and interested fans and followers of the County's offices. These sites may include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. Social media sites grant Peoria County an additional opportunity to share messages with the public. The public is encouraged to share comments, ideas, and concerns. Peoria County's social media sites shall comply with all applicable County of Peoria policies and procedures.

Note that information, including personally identifiable information, that public members voluntarily submit to or publish on a Peoria County page of a third-party site may be treated as public information. 

Peoria County reserves the right to edit or delete their own content in the instance of want of clarity, addition of information, correction of typographical fault, correction of scrivener’s error, or other relative circumstances.

Peoria County staff shall be the sole determining party when it comes to the execution of this policy. This policy is not intended to supersede the policies of third-party hosts, however, but is intended to supplement the platforms’ expectations.

Prohibited Content

The intended purpose of Peoria County's social media sites is to serve as one of multiple vehicles of communication between Peoria County and the public. Prohibited information, posts, tagged content, messages, photos, videos, graphics, and comments shall not be allowed and may be removed from the site. Subsequent prohibited posts by an individual will lead to that individual being blocked from the site. Such content includes the following:

1.    Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates illegal discrimination of protected status under the law.

2.    Off-topic or unrelated content not pertinent to the post or topic at hand 

3.    Obscene content or links to obscene content 

4.    Violent content or links to violent content or information that may compromise the safety and security of the public or public systems

5.    Solicitations of funds, commercial promotions, or advertising

6.    Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party (such as copyrighted materials, art, or other intellectual property)

7.    Personal information including but not limited to e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, mailing addresses, medical information, identification numbers, passwords, or other personally identifiable information (PII) 

8.    Content containing links to malware, viruses, and/or malicious content that affects the normal functioning of a computer system, server, or browser

9.    Defaming content or comments that are patently false assertions of facts

Disclaimer

Peoria County is not responsible or liable for any user materials or content posted in violation of this policy. Peoria County shall make reasonable efforts to remove said materials during business hours but disclaims liability if circumstances exist that prevent or hinder efforts to remove said materials, including if the amount of discussion becomes an undue burden to monitor or the timeliness of the comments are no longer relevant.

Peoria County does not endorse nor otherwise support or sponsor any advertising that may be posted by a social media platform on our pages. Peoria County following another page also does not necessitate support nor endorsement. The views expressed by members of the public on official pages maintained by Peoria County on third-party social media websites and applications do not reflect the official views of the Peoria County government nor does Peoria County guarantee the accuracy of such information posted by members of the public on those websites.

Social media platforms are privately operated, and the terms and conditions of individual platforms apply as governed by the platform itself. Peoria County does not guarantee the reliability or accuracy of any third‐party links. Peoria County reserves the right to remove, at its discretion, any comment or conversation that is prohibited by this Digital Policy.