FAO Twitter Policy

Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) Twitter Policy

The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario holds one bilingual Twitter account: @infoFAO

The primary objective of the FAO’s Twitter account is to promote the publications (reports, commentaries, annual reports, speeches, media releases, announcements about the Officer’s appearances at committees and other events, quotes, photos, etc.) and work of the FAO.  This can include links, photos, blog posts, and retweets from other Twitters users.

They complement the tools by which parliamentarians and the public are currently made aware of new and current FAO publications.  The FAO Twitter account is administered by members of the FAO team.

The FAO’s Twitter policy, contained in this document, outlines such matters as how the FAO Twitter account is operated, if and when the FAO responds to @replies, the availability and frequency of FAO tweets, compliance with the French Languages Services Act, and confidentiality, among others.

Following and unfollowing

The FAO’s decision to follow a particular Twitter user does not imply endorsement of any kind.  We follow accounts on Twitter that we believe may be relevant to our mandate and our work.

Only those followers who do not comply with the terms of use will be removed or blocked.  The administrator of the FAO account does not commit to follow back their followers.

Followers

The appearance of a Twitter user as a follower of the FAO account does not imply endorsement.  The FAO will only take steps to remove or block a follower when that follower is obviously an internet robot or consistently tweets offensive material.  

Direct messages and @replies;

The FAO reads over @replies and direct messages from followers.  When a message containing a more specific question is received from a parliamentarian or his/her staff, the FAO will reply privately by email or via a bilateral meeting.  Please direct your queries to info@fao.

Only relevant and courteous comments will be accepted. The administrators reserve the right to take action when any follower writes messages containing any of the following:

  • Racist, sexist or derogatory language
  • Hate speech
  • Sexually explicit content
  • Personal or slanderous attacks
  • Copyright violations (e.g., copying and pasting content without a source or without authorization)
  • Privacy violations (e.g., posting private information such as telephone numbers or email addresses)
  • Threats or harassment
  • Spam messages
  • Commercial promotions or releases
  • Unlawful content or content pertaining to unlawful activities

Further, the FAO may ban and/or report users whose messages contain any of the above.

In addition, the administrators reserve the right to reply to comments that may affect the image of the FAO. These responses will be drafted in collaboration with FAO management.

Links to Other Websites

All links inserted in the FAO tweets are to be limited to official pages of organizations relevant to FAO activities (e.g. Legislature of Ontario, Ontario Government).

Retweets

The administrators of the FAO Twitter accounts may retweet relevant messages from other users.  In some cases, translation may be required.

Hashtags

The FAO reserves the right to use hashtags of interest to all parliamentarians.

Tweet Frequency and Availability

The FAO is not committed to sending a predetermined number of tweets per week.

We commit to updating and monitoring our Twitter account during regular office hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Monday to Friday.

The FAO may, however, not be able to update or monitor Twitter at certain times due to acts of omission of third party servers. As such, the FAO accepts no responsibility for the Twitter network becoming unresponsive or unavailable.

Information and media requests

Twitter users are encouraged to visit our website to seek additional information on a particular issue, and use traditional channels to make requests for media interviews or to seek information.

FAO staff on Twitter

Some FAO staff tweet under their own names or usernames.  Despite their professional affiliation with the FAO, their tweets do not represent the official position of the Office, and should be considered the product of each individual as a private citizen.

Ongoing investigations

Twitter will not be used to update the public on the status of ongoing examinations or enquiries other than to announce the publication of reports as appropriate.

Official languages

The FAO respects the French Languages Services Act and is committed to ensuring that its products are available in both English and French and are of equal quality.

Accessibility

Twitter is administered by an independent service provider and as such is not subject to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act on accessible websites. Anyone encountering difficulty accessing the information on our Twitter accounts should consult the FAO website where the information is provided in another format.

Confidentiality

Twitter is a third-party service provider. Users are encouraged to read the Twitter Privacy Policy.

The FAO respects the privacy of its followers. Information that is shared with the proposed Twitter accounts is used only for the purpose for which it was provided and is kept in accordance with information management practices. Information provided may be used for security or other internal purposes.

As a best practice, users are advised not to share personal information, such as home addresses and telephone numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals or any other information consisting of personal information as defined in section 2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Questions about the FAO Twitter accounts

For any questions regarding the use of the FAO Twitter accounts, guidelines and its administration, please contact the FAO.