I. Acceptance of the Terms of Use. These Terms of Use apply to all comments, questions, and messages posted on an official social media account maintained by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC), including but not limited to, accounts on Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok (collectively “Social Media Sites”). The DOC reserves the right to revise, change, modify or remove portions or all of these Terms of Use with or without prior notice. Any revisions, changes, or modifications to the Terms of Use shall be posted here with the date of the most current version posted above. Use of the DOC’s official Social Media Sites (e.g., posting comments, liking posts, liking pages, etc.) will be deemed acceptance of these Terms of Use.
II. Purpose of the DOC’s official Social Media Sites. The purpose of the DOC’s official Social Media Sites is to provide information of public interest relating to the work of the DOC. The DOC serves adults and youth in the state’s correctional facilities or in the community through supervision.
III. Limited public forum. The DOC’s official Social Media Sites are limited public forums. Comments, questions, and messages posted on an official Social Media Site must be on-topic and relevant to the original post to which the comment, question, or message is responding. The DOC does not permit users to create their own posts to DOC’s official Social Media Sites. All comments, questions, or messages that are off-topic will be deleted by the DOC. Duplicate comments, questions, or messages from the same user are not permitted and will be deleted.
IV. Guidelines for comments, questions, and messages. The DOC seeks to maintain a respectful discourse on its official Social Media Sites. The DOC provides guidelines for engagement for people who choose to communicate on the DOC’s official Social Media Sites, and no comments, questions, or messages shall:
a. Contain rude, profane, obscene, sexually explicit, defamatory, or harassing language;
b. Contain threats to any person or organization, or encourage or promote illegal activity;
c. Communicate private personal information of any person, including home address, phone home or cell phone number, personal email address, or other personal identification information;
d. Contain language or content which promotes, fosters, or perpetuates harassment or discrimination on the basis of protected classes;
e. Solicit for, promote, or advertise a business or product, or propose a commercial transaction.
V. Third Party Terms and Control. The DOC neither owns nor controls the third-party platforms which host its Social Media Sites, and those platform providers have their own separate policies and standards which govern use on these official Social Media Sites in addition to these Terms of Use. The DOC may report comments, questions, and messages that may be in violation of the terms of use of a platform provider. The DOC is not responsible for any action that may be taken by a platform provider.
VI. Disclaimer. The DOC monitors its official Social Media Sites during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. The DOC is not responsible for user-generated content on its official Social Media Sites. The opinions expressed in user-generated content do not reflect those of the DOC. The inclusion of any external content or comments on the DOC’s official Social Media Sites, or following, retweeting, or reposting by the DOC does not imply endorsement of or agreement by the DOC, nor does this reflect the opinions or policies of the DOC. Individuals are responsible for all comments, questions, or messages that they provide. The DOC disclaims any liability for advertisements, videos, promoted content, or comments accessible from any external websites.
VII. License to Reuse Comments. By commenting on a DOC official Social Media Site, you are granting the DOC and its affiliates, officers, employees, consultants, and representatives a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, adapt, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, translate, and reformat your comment in any existing or future media. You additionally agree that the DOC may publish or otherwise disclose your name or username in connection with your comment.
VIII. Data Requests. Data requests pursuant to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act cannot be submitted via the DOC’s official Social Media Sites. Data requests must be submitted in accordance with the Data Request Procedure .
Terms of Use Policy posted 8/15/2024
