The City of Toronto recognizes that social media are important tools for communicating and engaging with the public. In order to provide online spaces that are as fair, open and engaging as possible, we ask that all users of City of Toronto social media sites abide by the following Terms of Use.
By contacting or contributing to a City of Toronto social media account, you agree to:
- Be respectful of other users of this site.
- Stay on topic and not upload content or post a comment that is unrelated to the purpose of the site.
- Not engage in harassment, personal attacks, or abuse toward individuals or organizations.
- Not use language that is discriminatory, hateful, or violent towards identifiable groups or that incites others to discriminate, practice hate or violence.
- Not break the law or encourage others to do so (this includes defamation, breaching privacy, breaching another person’s intellectual property rights such as copyright, condoning illegal activity and contempt of court).
- Not post personal information – addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or other online contact details – relating either to you or other individuals.
- Not register more than one user account per person.
- Not impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or an organization. You will not attempt to log on using another user’s account.
- Not make any commercial endorsement or promotion of any product, service or publication.
- If you are aged 16 or under, you will obtain your parent’s/guardian’s permission before participating. Users without this consent are not allowed to participate or provide us with personal information.
- Abide by the Terms of Use for the company hosting the site.
Violating these Terms of Use may result in removal of your comment(s) and/or your access to the site.
Users should be aware that, unless otherwise stated, all posts or comments by the public on a City of Toronto social media site are considered to be part of a public record as defined by section 27 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This includes any information attached or included in a post (e.g. information linked to a username) Please be advised that the privacy provisions of Part 2 of that Act would not apply to any information you post.
These Terms of Use are adapted under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License from the Social Media in Government Hands on Toolbox, Government Information Services, Department of Internal Affairs, Government of New Zealand, November 2011.
