Social Media Use Policy and Disclaimer

Social Media Disclaimer

The City of Aspen uses public-facing social media accounts as a public service to responsibly engage residents to learn about needs and concerns, encourage relevant community input and conversations, and promote programs and services. Although our goal is to update the City of Aspen’s social media accounts regularly, the City of Aspen’s social media accounts may not be up-to-date or correct.  Communication to the City of Aspen through social media shall not be deemed to constitute legal or official notice for any purpose. Comments made by the public to these sites are reviewed and subject to City of Aspen policies and guidelines. The City of Aspen does not endorse and disclaims liability for, comments, advertisements, videos, or external content provided by any external individual or organization. Inclusion of external posts on the City of Aspen’s social media accounts does not imply endorsement of any opinions or views expressed therein by the City of Aspen. The City of Aspen reserves the right and may choose to reprint comments/materials placed on the social media websites to other media, such as on marketing materials and/or providing comments/materials to City staff or City Council in private or public settings.

The City of Aspen’s social media sites, including all comments and posts, may be subject to the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. § 24-72-101, et seq, and all other applicable local, state, and federal regulations.   Any content displayed on these sites by either the City of Aspen or any user is public record and subject to disclosure.  All users who post or comment to any of the City of Aspen’s social media sites are bound by the sites’ respective usage agreements. 

Social Media User Policy

The City of Aspen welcomes and encourages comments, questions, and other user-generated content from our residents and visitors. However, the City of Aspen’s social media accounts serve as a limited public forum for the designated purposes stated herein, and all content is subject to monitoring. While we respect that our social media users will have differing opinions, we reserve the right and will hide comments/materials from City social media accounts when those comments/materials, in the City’s sole discretion, are:

  • Entirely off-topic or link to material that is off-topic to a specific post or thread.
  • Profane, obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit.
  • False or misleading.
  • Could compromise an ongoing criminal investigation.
  • Threats of violence, personal attacks, insults, profanity, hate speech, or name-calling.
  • Plagiarized material or material that violates intellectual property rights.
  • Libelous, slanderous, or defamatory.
  • Private, personal information published without consent and could potentially be used to perpetrate identity fraud.
  • Violate any law or encourages illegal activity.
  • Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
  • False, vicious, or malicious statements concerning any employee.
  • Unsolicited business proposals or endorsements/promotion of commercial services, products, or entities, including spam.
  • Endorsements of political parties, candidates, or groups.
  • Discriminatory based on race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, status regarding public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, covered medical condition, sexual orientation, military or veteran’s status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

Any content removed based on these guidelines will be documented and retained by the City of Aspen for no less than two (2) years, including the time, date, and identity of the poster, when available. Additionally, the City of Aspen reserves the right to terminate a person’s ability to post comments/materials or otherwise participate in the City’s social media tools when the person has posted any of the above listed inappropriate comments/materials. The City of Aspen will notify the poster that they have been blocked. Any user who has had a comment removed or been blocked from any City social media site may appeal the City’s decision by submitting a request for review in writing to the City of Aspen’s Communications Department at Communications@CityOfAspen.com.