Social media house rules

Our social media channels will promote and feature information from our services, keeping you updated with what’s happening in our borough.

We will help where we can but expect users to offer us the same respect we offer them. Our channels should be a safe place for healthy and insightful discussion.

The rules to follow

To help this to happen, we have the following set of rules. We require that all those commenting on our social media channels:

• Are civil and polite
• Avoid posting any message that is unlawful, libellous, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented or otherwise offensive
• Are not be abusive about any individual, including council staff and elected councillors
• Avoid posting content copied from elsewhere for which they do not own the copyright
• Do not discriminate against certain parts of our communities
• Do not post the same message, or very similar messages, more than once
• Do not post comments or questions that are not relevant to the original post
• Do not publicise their, or anyone else's, personal information, e.g. contact details
• Do not advertise products or services
• Do not impersonate someone else
• Do not post spam or post off-topic content (persistent negative and/or abusive posts in which the aim is to provoke a response)
• Do not seek to promote the views or opinions of a particular political party

You can read our full social media policy for further information.

Breaking house rules

Anyone repeatedly engaging with us using content or language which falls into the above categories will be blocked and/or reported to the associated social media platform. We will not tolerate or respond to abusive messages.

If you feel you have been blocked from any of our channels unfairly email CEM@wokingham.gov.uk

We must remain politically neutral at all times on social media which is why council officers are unable to reply to, endorse or engage with, any content that is of a party political nature. If you wish to discuss political issues, please contact your local councillor.