Social Media Policy & Disclaimer

This policy takes effect on January 16, 2023.

The City of Allentown engages with its citizens through multiple online channels. We encourage the public to engage with the City through these channels and welcome all viewpoints. Please be aware that when engaging with the City over social media, you are agreeing to the following.

It is the City's understanding that if a Facebook comment is deleted because it violates the City's Social Media Policy, all of the replies to that comment may get deleted. If there is something you want said, you may want to make it as a standalone comment rather than a reply to a comment.

Official Social Media Channels

A list of official City of Allentown online channels can be found on the Social Media page. The City of Allentown is not responsible for non-official pages or content generated by users on those platforms.

The following are the City of Allentown’s official social media accounts:

• Facebook - City of Allentown
• Twitter - City of Allentown
• Instagram - City of Allentown
• LinkedIn - City of Allentown
• TikTok - City of Allentown
• Facebook – Allentown Police Department
• Facebook – City of Allentown EMS
• Facebook – Lights In the Parkway
• Facebook – Allentown, PA Controller

Terms and Conditions

The City of Allentown’s government social media pages are located within platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that have their own terms of services, privacy policies, and other rules to which users are subject when users visit those pages.

User-Generated Content

The City of Allentown monitors its government social media pages but is not responsible for content generated by users on those platforms. Comments and other content posted on those platforms may be subject to public disclosure.

The City of Allentown’s individual social media pages also contain their own commenting policy statements and provisos which users are presumed to have read and understand in their use of the channels.

Comment Policy

We encourage the public to comment on our social media pages and welcome all viewpoints. Comments should remain relevant to the topic at hand and participants must treat each other with respect.

We review the comments posted to our social media pages on a regular basis and reserve the right to delete comments that contain the following:

• Profane and/or vulgar content;
• Sexually suggestive or harassing content;
• Obscene content;
• Nudity in a participant’s profile picture;
• Threats of physical or bodily harm;
• Defamatory statements;
• Disparaging language or hate speech targeting an individual’s race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, AIDS or HIV status, or disability;
• Commercial content promoting or soliciting service or products;
• Content promoting political organizations;
• Name-calling and/or personal attacks;
• Spam, such as the same comment posted repeatedly;
• Personally identifying, sensitive and/or private information;
• Language or content suggesting or encouraging illegal activity;
• Information that could reasonably compromise public safety; and
• Other content that the City deems inappropriate.

Communications posted on our social media pages will not be construed as satisfying requirements for legal notice or service, shall not be considered official public comment, and shall not be construed as an official request for records pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law.

We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time. Continued use of our social media pages following the posting of any modification signifies acceptance of such modification.

Contacting the City

Social media is not considered an official channel for contacting the City of Allentown. While the City at times responds to queries and comments on social media, staffing for that purpose is not 24/7. The City encourages users to follow instructions on how to contact the City of Allentown.

Communications posted on the City of Allentown’s social media pages will not be construed as satisfying requirements for legal notice or service, shall not be considered official public comment, and shall not be construed as an official request for records pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law.

Intellectual Property

The City of Allentown does not claim ownership of content users submit or make available on our social media pages. We only claim rights in what we write, post, or otherwise share.

Links

The City of Allentown sometimes posts links to other public and/or private organizations on social media. A link does not constitute an endorsement of content, viewpoint, policies, products, or services of that web site. Once a user clicks a link to another website not maintained by the City of Allentown, the user is subject to the terms and conditions of that website.