Draft Media Policy and Draft Social Media Policy

Council has revised its Media Policy into two new draft policies to provide a framework for how Council engages with both traditional media and on digital or social platforms.

Traditional media includes print, broadcast and online outlets like newspapers, magazines, internet publishers, radio and television broadcasters.

Digital or Social Media includes online platform and applications like social network sites (Facebook, Instagram, X (previously Twitter), TikTok etc), blogs, online forums, audio sharing platforms, video, wiki and more.

The two new draft policies recognise how technology has changed the media landscape. While traditional media and social media are closely connected, they involve different platforms, audience/community behaviours and risk profiles.

Therefore, different guidance, controls and accountability is required across traditional and social media to ensure Council meets its legislative and governance obligations.

You can check the policy links on the left side column.

The draft policies are a result of feedback and work Council undertook to refine the previous Media Policy.

The draft policies align with the Office of Local Government (OLG) Model Media and Social Media Policy which provides a best practice framework for councils managing media engagement.

Council also undertook benchmarking to assess how other councils and state government agencies manage and moderate their media engagement.

The policies are designed to support transparency, accountability and timely communication with media and the community, while clearly articulating roles, responsibilities and approval pathways.

While many parts of the policies relate to Council, Councillors and staff, some of the improvements and changes have been made to support respectful and constructive community participation. This will ensure Council’s online spaces remain respectful, well-governed, and sustainable to administer.

For example, the Draft Social Media Policy includes:

• provisions for blocking users from engaging with social media should they be in breach of the policy.
• the draft policy also proposes a model where social media pages are moderated Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, with comments closed on weekends, after three days of a post being published, or at any time when moderation is not possible or available.

A full list of proposed improvements and changes is listed below.

Key improvements and changes 

General improvements

• Alignment with Council’s Code of Conduct.
• Updating definition for “Official Event” as “A Civic function held by Liverpool City Council such as official openings, citizenship ceremonies, sister city delegations and award ceremonies.
• Complaints about the administration of Council’s social media to be made to the, Director of Community & Lifestyle or Manager Communications and Marketing in the first instance.

Moderation

• Clearly defined conditions around moderation and control measures (such as blocking users from engaging with social media should they be in breach of the policy).
• Proposed to adopt a model where posts are moderated Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, with comments closed on weekends, after three days of a post being published, or at any time when moderation is not possible or available. This approach balances transparency with risk management, ensuring Council’s online spaces remain respectful, well-governed, and sustainable to administer.
• A person must only be blocked or banner from a Council social media platform with approval of the CEO, Director or Manager Communications and Marketing.
• The duration of the ban is to be determined by the CEO, or in the case of a Councillors social media platform, the Councillor.

Councillors

• Obliging Councillors clearly identify themselves as such on their official Councillor social media pages, and note that they are responsible for monitoring comments, posts and engagement to ensure that it complies with Council’s rules for engaging on social media and record keeping obligations.
• That Councillors clearly include a disclaimer on their social media pages stating that “the views expressed and comments made on this platform are my own and not those of Council” when expressing views outside an endorsed Council position.
• That Councillors must update a change in their Councillor status on their social media within a month of circumstances changing (i.e. becoming or ceasing to become a Councillor).
• The Mayor is the principal member and spokesperson for the governing body of Council, in accordance with 226(c) of the Local Government Act 1993, which includes representing the view of the Council as to its local priorities.
• As members of the governing body and community representatives, Councillors are entitled to express personal views to the media, provided they clearly acknowledge point 2.
• Councillors must clarify when speaking to the media that they are expressing their personal view as an individual Councillor and that they are not speaking for the Council (unless they are authorised to do so).

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