Posts that represent municipalities on social media sites are considered public records and are subject to Freedom of Information Act requirements. The problem becomes that, unlike emails or electronic documents, Twitter and Facebook posts are not that easy to archive and retrieve.
Software is available, but is expensive and at extra cost archives material that isn't required to be archived, Matt Berger, the city's IT coordinator, said recently. So East Peoria chose policy over technology following a recommendation from the state archive department. Commissioner John Kahl was the lone vote of opposition on the council Tuesday.
"I have some concerns about the extra steps it is going to take," Kahl said before the vote.
When an employee has been authorized to post information to a social media site on behalf of the city, those posts should be created in a Microsoft Word document (or similar electronic document). That document will be considered the original document and the one provided to a FOIA request.
If a social media post is made from a mobile device, the employee must take a screenshot of the page before hitting the post or send button, making sure that entire message is visible. The photo will be transferred to the employee's computer and then saved on a city computer or city network.
Berger said the system is a bit cumbersome, but employees authorized to represent the city in social media will be trained, and it shouldn't be a problem.
The policy also includes other warnings about the potential misuse of social media.
For instance, "Even when using social media on a personal basis, employees may be disciplined for posting material that is, or might be, construed as a violation of the city's workplace policies against discrimination, harassment on account of age, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or other protected class, status or characteristic or that is otherwise offensive, malicious, demeaning, obscene, abusive, harassing, threatening or intimidating."
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