STANDARDS
The purpose of the Office of the Utah Attorney General (OAG) social media platforms is to provide information of public interest to Utahns and other members of the general public. The posts, photos, tweets, and other original content and direct reposts are controlled by the OAG and are provided to fulfill that purpose. We encourage commenters to engage by submitting comments and questions regarding the posted topics and by sharing the OAG’s information with others.
The OAG welcomes participation on the issues presented and encourages commenters to use family-friendly content and civil tone.
Comments may be moderated or removed if they contain, constitute, or link to:
- Off-topic discussions unrelated to OAG programs, services, projects, issues, events, or
activities; - Undertaking, or encouraging, illegal activity or violence;
- Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination against protected classes;
- Content that violates legal ownership interest of any other party, such as copyright or trademark infringement;
- Content containing improperly disclosed private, protected, or confidential information as defined by State law;
- Content that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
- Profanity, nudity, indecency, or obscenity;
- “Spam,” advertisements, promotions, solicitations of commerce or products; or links to promote a candidate;
- Sexual harassment content;
- Slanderous or defamatory attacks, or personal harassment of another poster;
- Disruptively repetitive content.
GUIDANCE AND TENOR
The OAG will promote a level of commenting decorum conducive to a culture of participatory local self-governance. Except as described in this Policy, the OAG does not discriminate on the basis of identity or anonymity of the commenter, or the commenter’s viewpoint. Comments that express disagreement with a particular position will not be removed, so long as the comment meets the standards listed above.
VIOLATIONS
The standards outlined above will be monitored and enforced. Violators of this policy may have their comments removed from the OAG’s official social media platforms as described below. Continued or egregious violations of this policy may prompt the agency to further restrict an individual’s ability to participate on official social media platforms, as described below.
PROCESS FOR REMOVING COMMENTS OR BANNING USERS
When there may be a violation of the policy standards, the moderator may invite the commenter to engage in a more productive manner or may request the commenter to voluntarily remove the improper content. Alternatively, the moderator may capture the content to create a record and then remove content immediately, subject to reinstatement either through the discussion or through appeal. If a commenter commits more than three violations in one month, the OAG director of communications will block or mute the commenter’s account.
In addition, the OAG reserves the right to forward or report to the social media platform any content which may violate the terms of service of the provider and will forward all content which may violate state or federal law to the appropriate law enforcement agency for prosecution.
APPEAL AND ACCESS RESTORATION PROCESS
To have a comment unhidden or an account unblocked, the commenter must appeal to the OAG by sending an e-mail within five days of the adverse action to the director of communications at heseariac@agutah.gov.
A comment will be restored to public view within fourteen days of receipt of a timely appeal, if it is determined that the comment did not violate the standards described above.
An account will be unblocked, and access will be restored, within fourteen days of receipt of a request for reinstatement, if the communications team determines (a) that if the grounds for reinstatement are sufficient, or (b) a sufficient period of time has passed.
“Sufficient grounds for reinstatement” include, but are not limited to, a statement that the user will abide by this policy in the future shall be sufficient grounds for reinstatement, except when a user has continued to violate the policy after having made such a statement.
“A sufficient period of time” is any time after (a) one month after the account was blocked for the first violation of these standards, or (b) six months if the account has previously been blocked for violation of these standards.
A commenter may appeal a decision of the director of communications to the OAG General Counsel Daniel Burton by sending an e-mail to danburton@agutah.gov within 5 business days of the director of communications’ decision.
REPORTING INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT
The OAG does not guarantee that comments are monitored regularly. In addition to engagement on the topics posted, users may report inappropriate content to the moderators of the social media website, or contact the OAG at (801) 366-0260 at any time to identify comments or other conduct in violation of this policy or of the law. Until a comment in violation of the policy is removed, users should ignore it or, if responding, do so in compliance with the policy.
GENERAL NOTICES
While the OAG may respond to constituent requests made in comments, it is under no obligation to do so. Individuals seeking help from the OAG should contact Constituent Services by sending an e-mail to uag@agutah.gov or calling (801) 366-0260.
The OAG may or may not participate in public discussions due in part to court-granted protective orders on certain topics such as ongoing investigations, pending litigation, or other legal or ethical obligations.
Comments are the opinion of the commenter and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the Utah Attorney General, the OAG, its officers, employees, or agents.
Comments may be public record subject to public disclosure under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).
Legal notices and other requests, such as requests for records under GRAMA, Notices of Claim required as a condition to bring suit against the State, an arm of the State, or its employees, or service of summonses or subpoenas may not be made through social media comments and will not constitute valid compliance with statutory notice and service requirements.
Comments made on this page do not constitute legal advice or official notice or comment for any rulemaking.
Any information posted on any OAG’s social media website is provided on an ‘as is’ basis, and all individuals who view the material assume the risk of use or reliance on such information. The Attorney General, the OAG, and its offers, employees, or agents are not liable for any injury or damage resulting from viewing, distributing, or copying materials on a social media platform or account, including without limitation, liability for indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages. The OAG makes no warranty that information posted, or comments amended to any postings, are free of copyright claims or other restrictions on free use.