ɬSocial Media Policy
The ɬ Education Agency uses the following policies to guide the use of social media sites in accordance with the ɬ Department of Information Resources (DIR) Social Media Policy:
Linking
ɬmay make available social media applications, and may publish social media content to third-party sites. These sites are not official ɬwebsites and therefore, the external sites’ policies apply. Please refer to the ɬLinking Policy for more information.
Privacy
Only public information is permitted to be posted by ɬor its designee on ɬsocial media websites. If communication that takes place on ɬsocial media websites involves or requires private information, communication will be redirected through other appropriate channels. Postings from the public on ɬsocial media sites become public record and may be posted on the ɬwebsite. This information may be subject to public information requests. For more information about public information requests, please refer to the ɬPublic Information Requests Policy.
No personally identifiable information without an individual’s permission, unless captured during a public meeting, will be posted on ɬsocial media sites by ɬpersonnel. ɬis not responsible for content posted by others to ɬsocial media sites. ɬusers that enter personal information on ɬsocial media sites do so at their own risk; ɬis not responsible for the public display of such private information. ɬmay remove postings to its social media sites that contain personally identifiable information, but neither TEA, nor its licensors or contractors, are responsible for any damages caused by delays in such removal.
Public Information and Record Retention
Social media sites may contain communications sent to or received by state employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to State Records Retention requirements. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (digital text, photos, audio, or video, for example).
To the extent that the third-party records retention policies are inconsistent with the ɬ State Record Retention Schedule, ɬwill put forth reasonable efforts to archive copies of social media content in order to meet state records retention obligations.
Terms of Service
ɬsocial media sites are third party sites and have terms of service and policies that are not governed by ɬor the State of ɬ. These third- party sites are not official ɬwebsites and the third party’s website terms of service and policies apply. The terms of service for the social media sites used by tea.texas.gov can be found below:
Content of Social Media Posts
All published ɬsocial media content is subject to monitoring. This content may take the form of digital text for Twitter and Facebook, photography images for Flickr and Instagram, and videos for YouTube.
User-generated posts are subject to rejection or removal when the content of a post:
- is off-subject or out of context
- contains obscenity or material that appeals to the prurient interest
- contains personal identifying information or sensitive personal information, as defined in Tex. Code Bus & Com. Sec. 521.001 et. seq.
- contains offensive terms that target protected classes
- contains personal attacks or insulting statements directed toward an individual
- is threatening, harassing or discriminatory
- incites or promotes violence or illegal activities
- contains information that reasonably could compromise public safety
- advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual
- promotes or endorses political campaigns or candidates
- are of a repetitive or “spamming” nature (the same comment posted multiple times)
In the above instances, ɬmay remove content without notifying the poster.
Accessibility: To accommodate ɬusers with disabilities, (outside source) is the suggested alternative access to the @teainfo Twitter profile.
Record Retention: ɬTwitter content will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Accessibility: To accommodate ɬusers with disabilities, there are two suggested alternatives to access the ɬFacebook Fan page:
- The is a suggested accessible alternative to the original ɬFacebook page.
- ɬgenerally posts the same content to Twitter and Facebook. Therefore,(outside source)will serve as an accessiblealternative.
Record Retention: ɬFacebook updates will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Flickr
Accessibility: To accommodate ɬusers with disabilities, the is the suggested alternative to access TEA’s photo pool.
Record Retention: The following tea.texas.gov Flickr photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule:
- Photos posted to Flickr by TEA
- Photos not accepted by ɬdue to noncompliance with submission guidelines
Content: By submitting a photo to the ɬFlickr pool, you are giving ɬpermission to use your photo on the ɬhomepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms. For more information about photo submission guidelines, visit the .
YouTube
Accessibility: ɬwill make an effort to link to and display videos on its YouTube channel that have closed captioning available for hearing impaired viewers.
Record Retention: The ɬYouTube videos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule.
Content: Videos displayed on the ɬYouTube site will be related to ɬ or ɬ education.
Record Retention: The following ɬInstagram photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule:
- Photos posted to Instagram by TEA
- Photos not accepted by ɬdue to noncompliance with submission guidelines
Content: By submitting a photo to the ɬvia Instagram, you are giving ɬpermission to use your photo on the ɬhomepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms.
ɬMedia RelationsDivision
(512) 463-9000
MediaRelations@tea.texas.gov