Policies
Whatever the tool, whether it's for official Service communication or an employee's personal use; we use social media in accordance with all applicable federal laws, the Department of the Interior social media policy, digital media guidelines and the requirements and policies outlined here.
Additional relevant policies
Comment Policy
We welcome your comments and hope that our conversations here will be courteous. You are fully responsible for the content of your comments. In all our forums, we monitor comments either before they are published or shortly thereafter.
We never discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right to delete any of the following:
- off-topic comments
- violent, vulgar, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
- comments that threaten or defame any person or organization
- the violation of the privacy of another individual
- solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any financial, commercial, or non-governmental agency
- comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity
- comments promoting or opposing any person who is campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any ballot proposition
- comments including phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or similar information
- multiple, successive off-topic posts by a single user
- repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users
Egregious or repeated violations of the comment policy may result in the deletion of your comment or the reporting of your account to third party site administrators.
Communication made through official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service social media accounts, blogs, and/or online forums or groups will in no way constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or any official or employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any purpose.
References to commercial entities, products, services, or nongovernmental organizations or individuals are provided solely for information. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Government, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.
Reporters or other media representatives are asked to send questions through their normal channels (the appropriate FWS office public affairs or communications office) and to refrain from submitting questions through official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service social media accounts, blogs, and/or online forums or groups as comments.
This Comment Policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time to ensure that its continued use is consistent with its intended purpose as a limited forum.
