The purpose of Prince William County’s official social media platforms is to provide information of public interest to the county’s residents, business community, visitors and other members of the general public. We encourage you to engage your local government through social media by submitting your comments and questions regarding the posted topics and by sharing the county’s information with your network. Prince William County Government’s Social Media Comments Policy provides people who choose to communicate with the county via its official social media platforms with guidelines for engagement. Please note that the comments expressed on the Prince William County social media sites do not reflect the opinions and position of Prince William County government or its officers and employees.

COMMENT REMOVAL

Prince William County considers its social media platforms to be moderated online discussion sites. As a result, the county reserves the right to remove comments that contain:

• Vulgar language, including graphic, obscene, explicit, racist or sexist comments

• Personal attacks of any kind

• Abusive, hateful or slanderous comments to any person, ethnicity, religion, organization or nation

• Spam

• Comments clearly off topic

• Comments that suggest, endorse or encourage illegal activity

• Promotion, solicitation or advertisement of particular services, products or political organizations

• Infringement of copyrights or trademarks

• Personally identifiable or sensitive information, including medical information

Violators of this policy may have their comments removed from the county’s official social media platforms. Continued or egregious violations of this policy may prompt the county to further restrict an individual’s commenting on official county social media platforms.

ADMINISTRATORS

The county’s social media platforms are administered by designated staff. When one of the county’s social media administrators suspects a violation of the Prince William County Social Media Comments Policy, he or she will contact the Office of Communications which will review and authorize removal of a comment when appropriate. When appropriate and if possible, a social media administrator will contact the commenter regarding a violation of the county’s Social Media Comments Policy to notify the commenter and/or to request voluntary removal of the comment. Appeals regarding the Office of Communication's decision to remove a comment may be submitted via email at [email protected] or phone at 703-792-6606; the Office of Communications will respond to appeals within two business days.