Social Media Guidelines

Introduction

These guidelines are in place to help create a safe environment on all of the social media channels run by Suffolk Constabulary.

Our social media channels exist to create an environment where our communities can remain informed, as well as engage safely in debate and are free to make comments, questions and suggestions.

We ask that anyone commenting on our social media channels shows courtesy, kindness and respect for all other members of our social media communities.

To help create this safe environment we have set out some guidelines which apply to any engagement on our channels, either with Suffolk Constabulary or with any other members of our communities.

By visiting and engaging with our social media channels you agree to follow these guidelines.

Comments must not:

• Contain spam, be defamatory of any person, deceive others, be obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, hateful, inflammatory or promote sexually explicit material or violence.
• Promote discrimination of any kind including race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation and/or age (as further detailed in the Equality Act 2010).
• Risk prejudicing active criminal proceedings.
• Breach any of the terms of any of the social media platforms themselves.
• Contain any advertising or promote any services.
• Post repeatedly about issues that are off-topic i.e. spam.

Breach of guidelines

• We reserve the right to determine, at our discretion, whether comments or posts on our social media channels breach our guidelines.
• We reserve the right to hide or delete comments made on our channels.
• We reserve the right to block users from our social media channels if inappropriate behaviour continues after a warning, or if behaviour is extreme. Users will be notified of the block, and will have a right to appeal after a 12-month period.
• We reserve the right to make a copy of any comments we deem appropriate for investigation as we feel necessary or is required for criminal justice purposes. If you see something on social media that you think breaks one of the community guidelines, you can report it directly to the platform. They will review your report and decide appropriate action.

Platform community guidelines

The community guidelines and rules for our social media platforms can be found here:

• Facebook Community Standards
• X Rules
• Instagram Community Guidelines
• TikTok Community Guidelines
• YouTube's Community Guidelines
• LinkedIn Professional Community Policies

Image and video use

Images and videos posted on our channels are subject to Suffolk Constabulary copyright and must not be used without permission.