The following Posting and Commenting Policy applies to city of Aurora social media accounts:

The city uses social media to communicate to residents and patrons, and to receive feedback on certain topics. The city intends for its social media forums to be friendly and respectful; please keep wall posts and comments consistent with this standard.

The city of Aurora’s use of external social media websites is provided as a public service. The city disclaims liability for ads, videos, promoted content or comments accessible from any external web page or social site platform. The responsibility for external content or comments rests with the organizations or individuals providing them. Any inclusion of external content or comments does not imply endorsement by the city of Aurora.

The city will not edit or alter posts or comments on city content by individual social media users. However, the city may remove comments that do not adhere to the standards outlined on this page. The following forms of content will be removed:

• Comments not topically related to the original post by the city;
• Obscene language or material;
• Defamatory statements, threats or language inciting violence;
• Content that promotes illegal discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or political party;
• Links to malware;
• Material that violates the copyright of another individual or entity;
• Commercial product or service promotions or solicitations;
• Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
• Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public, city employees or public systems.

Individual social media platforms may have their own posting and commenting policies that vary from the city's policy. In such cases, the city will continue to enforce only the policy as it is written here; platforms may enforce their own policies separate from the city.

Elected officials operate their own social media accounts, which are not managed or controlled by city staff.

Definitions:

• Obscene language or material: (1) Depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, (2) An average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and (3) Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value
• Defamatory statements: a statement of fact about a specific person, which is false when taken as a whole, and negatively affects that person’s reputation or causes others not to associate with that person
• Threats: a serious expression of an intent to cause unlawful bodily harm or death to a specific person or group of people, which the speaker appears likely to follow through with
• Inciting violence: a statement that is directed to inciting or producing imminent use of physical force resulting in bodily injury or death and is likely to incite or produce such action
• Commercial: relating to the buying or selling of goods or services
• Malware: any electronic means, especially software, used to monitor or gain access to another’s computer system without authorization and for the purpose of impairing or disabling the system