The Town of Yucca Valley (“Town”) engages community members through many outlets, including, but not limited to the Town’s Official Website, new releases, the community update digital newsletter, printed materials and social media websites. This Social Media Customer Use Policy (“Customer Use Policy”) provides the guidelines pertaining to the public’s use of the Town’s social media sites.

For purposes of this Customer Use Policy, “social media” is understood to be content created by individuals, using accessible, expandable and upgradable publishing technologies, through and on the internet. Examples of social media include, but are not limited to, social networking sites, forums, weblogs (blogs, vlogs, microblogs), online chat sites, and video/photo posting sites or any other such similar output or format (including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Nextdoor, LinkedIn and YouTube).

The Town has an overriding interest and expectation in protecting the integrity of the information posted on its social media sites, in the name of and on behalf of the Town, and the content that is attributed to the Town and its officials.

Town social media sites are subject to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250, et seq.) and associated laws. Any content maintained on a Town social media site that is related to Town business, including a list of subscribers, posted communication and communication submitted for posting, may be considered a public record and subject to public disclosure as required by law.

This Policy will be displayed on the Town’s website. Wherever possible, the Town’s Official Social Media Sites will link to this Policy.

Commenting on a Town of Yucca Valley Social Media Site

By posting or commenting on the Town of Yucca Valley’s social media sites, you are agreeing to the terms of use of this Customer Use Policy, as provided herein and as follows:

The Town of Yucca Valley shares information, images, photographs and video with the public through external social media websites. Comments made by the public to these sites are reviewed and, while comments will not be edited by Town personnel, a comment may be deleted if it violates this Customer Use Policy. All Town social media sites are limited public forums. To submit official comments for the Town Council on agenda items, please contact the Town Clerk at townclerk@yucca-valley.org.

• Comments should be related to the posted topic for the Town's social media page or post in good faith. Town of Yucca Valley social media accounts are not meant for comments that do not directly relate to the purpose or topic of the social media website or for service requests. For general comments or communications concerning the Town or a Town department, or for service requests, please visit the Town Service Center.

• Comments may contain links to external websites from the following sources:federal, state or county governments, Town of Yucca Valley, or other entities with specific ties to the Town or provide public information that help the Town fulfill its mission.

• Contacting the Town’s Police Department in the event of an emergency should not be done through Yucca Valley social media sites. In the event of an emergency, please call 911 and ask for assistance. While comments posted on Town social media sites are monitored, posting a comment is neither recommended nor the best way to contact the Town’s Police Department.

• Users are subject to the Terms of Service (TOS) of the individual social media websites. Information (photos, videos, etc.) users share with or post to official Town of Yucca Valley Town pages are also subject to the TOS of the site and may be used by the owners of the site for their own purposes. For more information, consult the individual social media website's TOS.

• The Town shall have full permission or rights to any content posted to its social media sites, including photographs and videos.

• Individuals posting photos warrant they have taken the photograph and have obtained any necessary permission from any third party if that third party or third party’s intellectual property appears in the photograph. Photos remain a user’s individual property, but by posting a photo to an official Town social media platform, users agree to allow the Town to repost, display and use your photo on the Town’s social media sites and grant the Town a perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of your photo in connection with the Town of Yucca Valley and promotion for the Town of Yucca Valley. By posting a photo, users release and hold the Town harmless from any and all liability arising from or related to the posting of said photo(s).

• Postings or comments to Town social media sites shall NOT contain any of the following:
  • Comments not topically related to the particular subject or article being commented upon;
  • Comments in support of, or opposition to, political campaigns, candidates or ballot measures (this does not apply to educational information or materials provided by the Town pertaining to Town ballot measures or related Comments in response thereto);
  • Profane language or content;
  • Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation/gender identification, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws;
  • Sexual content (including nudity) or links to sexual content;
  • Solicitations of commerce, including, but not limited to, advertising of any business or product for sale, commercial promotions and spam;
  • Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law, or encouragement of illegal activity;
  • Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
  • Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party;
  • Potentially libelous comments;
  • Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language;
  • Private or personal information published without consent;
  • Reproduced or borrowed content that reasonably appears to violate third party rights;
  • Hyperlinks to material that is not directly related to the discussion.

• The Town of Yucca Valley reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed to be in violation of this Customer Use Policy or any applicable law.

• Comments posted by a member of the public on any Town social media site are the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Town of Yucca Valley, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Town of Yucca Valley.

• The Town reserves the right to deny access to Town social media sites for any individual who violates this Policy, at any time and without prior notice.

• The Town reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be in violation of this Customer Use Policy, the Administrative Policy, or any other applicable law (including, but not limited to copyright and/or trademark law), to be the intellectual property of any third party, or to pose a threat to the Town’s technology system or its security.

• This comment policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time.

Questions or concerns regarding the Town of Yucca Valley's social media activity or this Customer Use Policy should be submitted to townclerk@yucca-valley.org.