Social Media Participant Use Policy

We welcome your comments and encourage discussion, dialogue, and debate on our online engagement platforms. Please be aware that when engaging with the City of Vancouver on social media, you are agreeing to the following:

Engaging online on a City of Vancouver social media channel 

You are individually responsible for the content of your comments. We want all our users to be able to express their opinions freely and enter into informed and productive discussion. While we want this to be an open and honest forum, we also want posts to be courteous, to stay on topic, and not cause intimidation or offence; therefore, we reserve the right to delete posts that contain any of the following:

  • Violent, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist posts, links, or images
  • Comments that threaten or defame any person or organization
  • Comments that are unrelated to the topic of the page or posts (for general comments or communications concerning a department, project, or service request, tell us online)
  • Solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any financial, commercial, or not-for-profit organizations
  • Comments promoting or opposing any person campaigning for election to a political office
  • Comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity or posting of material that violates copyrights or trademarks of others
  • Repetitive posts copied and pasted or duplicated by single or multiple users

If repeated posts of the above nature are made by any individual, we retain the right to block that person from further activity on our page.

By posting on the City's social media channels, you agree to these terms and conditions. This comment policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time.

Please be aware that by participating on City presences on social networks, you are subject to the Terms of Use of the host site. Information (photos, videos, etc.) you share with or post to official City of Vancouver online engagement platforms is also subject to the Terms of Use of the host site and may be used by the owners of the host site for their own purposes. For more information, consult the host website's Terms of Use.

User-created content

Users are encouraged to submit or post content, including photographs and videos, if the content meets the standards articulated in this Participant Use Policy and pertains to the subject of online engagement platform. Users may only post their own, original content. Reproduced or borrowed content that reasonably appears to violate third party rights will be deleted.

Social media collection notice

The personal information you post may be collected by the City of Vancouver under s. 26(c) of the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes of engaging and consulting with the public. Please be aware that any information collected may be stored and / or accessed outside of Canada on servers not belonging to the government. To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include any personal information including phone numbers and email addresses in the body of your comment. Please do not share personal information about others, including pictures.

Questions or concerns

Please contact us with any questions or concerns regarding the City of Vancouver's social media activity, the City's Social Media Policy, and/or this Participant Use Policy at social.media@vancouver.ca.