Social Media Policies and Disclaimers

Representatives of the Town of Hillsborough government communicate via town social media sites. Consequently, any communication on our social media site is subject to North Carolina public records law.

Any comment, feedback or other method of communication made by someone other than an official representative of the Town of Hillsborough is solely the view and opinion of the author. It does not represent an official communication from the Town of Hillsborough or any member of its staff.

The Town of Hillsborough does not endorse any advertisement or marketing effort that may be seen on our social media sites.

We value your comments and feedback but are unable to answer questions and concerns via our social media forums. Please visit the Town of Hillsborough’s website, www.hillsboroughnc.gov, for direct contact to town departments. See the town directory at www.hillsboroughnc.gov/government/contact-us/.

All content posted to the Town of Hillsborough’s social media sites by the public should be related to discussion of town-sponsored programs, services, projects, issues, events and activities. Please note that this is a moderated online discussion site and subject to North Carolina public records laws and electronic discovery laws and policies. All comments and content shared on our government-sponsored social media sites must pertain to items within the jurisdictional control or authority of our governmental unit.

The Town of Hillsborough reserves the right to delete submissions that do not meet the purpose of this site. The following list is not intended to be all-inclusive. It includes examples of unacceptable social networking content and comments.

• Content or comments that are spam or not topically related to town-sponsored programs, services, projects, issues, events and activities or the particular post being commented on. This includes comments not related to the jurisdiction or to the authority of the jurisdiction.
• Profane or obscene language or content. Such language or content is subject to being blocked or removed by the social media platform’s filtering functions. This includes sexual content or links to sexual content.
• Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race; creed; color; age; religion; gender; gender identity; gender expression; marital status; status with regard to public assistance; national origin; physical or mental disability; sexual orientation; or any other protected class.
• Content that advocates violence or illegal activity or compromises the safety and security of the public or public system.
• Confidential or nonpublic information, including any personally identifiable medical information or content that violates the legal rights of the owner and said content.
• Promotions or content related to political campaigns or organizations.
• Solicitations of commerce, including content that contains gratuitous links (links or references to other relevant governmental webpages or official government sites are acceptable).
• Infringement on copyrights or trademarks.
• Duplicate posts by the same author (the original post will be left intact assuming it follows the guidelines of acceptable comments or content).

The Town of Hillsborough also reserves the right to disallow comments altogether. This policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time.

While the Town of Hillsborough recognizes that social media is a round-the-clock medium, the monitoring capability of the town’s staff is not. Do not make requests for emergency service or immediate response through social media. Instead, use the Town of Hillsborough website for direct contact to town departments. The town directory at www.hillsboroughnc.gov/contact-us includes phone numbers for emergency water and sewer service. Call 911 to file a police report or to report an emergency.

Any comment, feedback or other method of communication made by someone other than an official representative of the Town of Hillsborough is solely the view and opinion of the author. It does not represent an official communication from the Town of Hillsborough or from a member of its staff nor does it reflect the opinions and position of the town and its staff. 

The Town of Hillsborough does not endorse any advertisement or marketing effort that may be seen on a social media site.