Social media house rules

Thank you for taking the time to look at our social media house rules.

Our channels are here to share news and updates, answer questions, and have genuine conversations about Richmond upon Thames.

We want our channels to be a safe, welcoming space for everyone, which is why we have these house rules. They set out what you can expect from us, and what we ask of you in return.

By interacting with the Council on social media, you are agreeing to comply with our terms of use. Remember, you must also comply with the social media platform’s terms of use.

What we promise to do

We will:

• Make it clear that it’s us: if you see a corporate Richmond Council account online you can be confident it is a legitimate account. View all our accounts.
• Be human, polite, and respectful in all our interactions
• Do our best to listen and respond to your questions and feedback
• Publish content that is accurate and up to date
• Be transparent about what we can and cannot help with on social media
• Make our content as accessible as we can

Visit our Contact the Council webpages to find contact numbers, our online enquiry form, how to report an issue and out of hours contact information.

What we ask of you

We welcome open and honest conversation. We only ask that everyone engages with respect.

We will remove content that we believe:

• Is abusive, threatening, or intimidating towards our staff, elected members, or other users
• Is discriminatory – including comments about race, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age, as protected under the Equality Act 2010
• Contains misinformation, disinformation, or deliberately misleading content
• Shares someone’s personal information without their consent (doxxing)
• Could prejudice ongoing legal proceedings
• Is spam, trolling, or persistently off-topic
• Promotes commercial products or services without permission

What happens when these rules are broken

If content breaches these rules, we may hide or remove it and keep a record of why. For serious content, including threats, hate speech, or harassment, we may screenshot posts and refer them to the relevant platform or to the police.

We may block accounts that repeatedly break these rules. Blocking is always a last resort – we would rather keep the conversation open.

If you have been blocked and wish to appeal, please contact us at communitynews@richmond.gov.uk. Appeals will be reviewed by the Communications team and the decision will be communicated to you in writing.

Safeguarding

If you share a safeguarding concern on our social media channels, we will pass this to the relevant team as part of our duty of care. We may remove the post to protect privacy. Use these links if you need to report something urgently:

• Report a concern about a child
• Report a concern about an adult

Complaints

Social media is not our complaints channel. Find out how to make a complaint. 

Political neutrality

We must always remain politically neutral. We cannot engage with, endorse, or respond to party political content on our channels. To discuss a political matter, please contact your local councillors.

During pre-election periods, we apply even stricter neutrality and may remove or not respond to content that could be seen as politically controversial.

Privacy

Please do not share personal information – yours or anyone else’s – in public comments. See our privacy policy for more information.

Monitoring hours

Our channels are monitored Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding public holidays. For urgent matters outside these hours, visit our out of hours contact page.

Impartiality

A like, share, or follow from our account does not indicate endorsement of any individual, organisation, or product.

Updates to these rules

We may update these house rules from time to time to reflect changes in policy or best practice.