House Communications Social Media Policy

The Hawaiʻi House of Representatives consists of 51 members proudly serving the people of the islands in geographically designated districts across the state. The 45 House Democrats make up the Majority Caucus under the leadership of Speaker Scott K. Saiki, and they are elected every two years

The House Majority Communications Office (House Communications) has created social media channels (@hihousedems) to enable communication between the public and House Communications regarding programs, services, projects, issues, events, legislation, and activities. The purpose of these pages is to keep the public informed on what’s happening at the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives.

The social media platforms are managed by House Communications. They are not managed by any House Representatives or staff outside of House Communications.

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Any comment posted by members of the public on the @hihousedems or content-sharing pages is the opinion of the poster only. Publication of a comment does not imply endorsement by the House Communications, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the House Majority Caucus.

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Public Forum

Official social media pages for elected representatives and government organizations, when they allow the public to make comments on the page, are public forums. Censoring individuals from these pages through blocking accounts or deleting comments restricts their right to free speech under the First Amendment. This applies to official social media pages operated by the individual, or offices of elected representatives, or government boards, organizations, agencies, commissions, associations, or any other officially constituted group of a public entity where matters of public policy or governing are discussed.

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As a government organization page, @hihousedems recognizes that its platform is a public forum and in turn will follow these guidelines. However, @hihousedems can remove comments or conversation if it fails to follow the Standards of Conduct.

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Standards of Conduct

House Communications asks all commenters to be courteous and civil toward one another. House Communications may remove comments or conversation if the content is deemed inappropriate, including any of the following classes of comment:

• Comments unrelated to the purpose and topical scope of the page;

• Obscenity;

• Child pornography;

• Incitement to imminent lawless action;

• Speech presenting a grave and imminent threat;

• Fighting words;

• True Threats;

• Fraud;

• Defamation (libel/slander);

• Solicitations to commit, or speech integral to, criminal conduct; and

• Copyrighted material (if posted without the copyright holder’s consent).

Content on @hihousedems

Visitors on @hihousedems platforms should expect to see posts discussing topics such as:

• Press Releases and Announcements relating to House Majority activity;

• Photography and Videography of events, meetings, ceremonies, special occasions, and more;

• Live Videos, which may include representatives or committee meetings, press conferences, or interviews with members;

• Shared Posts of news alerts from executive or legislative agencies of the State of Hawaiʻi Departments and Agencies.

• Hearing Notices;

• Updates on Bills and;

• Information on how to Submit Testimony

Following Back

House Communications appreciates and recognizes those in the community who choose to follow @hihousedems on social media. The following accounts will be followed by House Communications, however a follow does not imply support for the content or values of these accounts:

• Municipalities of the State of Hawaiʻi, including individual departments and divisions of local municipal government;

• Related government agencies in the United States of America;

• Agencies with jurisdictions that have formed Sister-State relationships with the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives or Sister-Legislative relationships with the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives;

• Local organizations in the State of Hawaiʻi;

• Local and national media outlets; and

• Individuals who follow the House Majority.

Reposting Policy

To keep Hawaiʻi's residents informed, House Communications will repost content from House Majority members on its @hihousedems social media accounts. Reposting does not imply endorsement or promote preferential treatment of any particular member. The content that appears in the @hihousedems feed and the content where @hihousedems is tagged are the two main sources of repurposed content. Members who follow @hihousedems can also ask to be reposted by doing so.

The following content will not be shared by House Communications:

• Particular stance on a legislative measure;

• Promotion of residents, for-profit businesses, or content-sharing services;

• Language or other elements that violate the aforementioned Standards of Conduct;

• Campaign postings and linking to campaign accounts or other private business accounts are forbidden by HRS section 84-13(a);

• Endorsement of non-profit organizations; as they are private businesses according to the State Ethics Code and doing so may inadvertently give the impression of preferential treatment; and

• Publication of fundraising events or call-to-actions.

Disclaimers

Comments posted are expressions of the opinion of the user only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of House Communications, House Majority members, employees, or agents.

Comments made on this page do not constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives and will not be regarded as a request for service or a testimony.

House Communications does not guarantee that comments are monitored regularly, and therefore, users should not use this account to contact or provide notice to the state about dangerous conditions on public property or other dangerous situations. If a dangerous condition or situation exists, please contact the relevant state or county departments to address the issue.

This account may contain links to websites not owned or controlled by House Communications. House Communications is not responsible for the content that appears on these websites and provides these links as a convenience only.

Copyright Policy

Information and materials produced by House Communications and posted on this page are credited to the State of Hawaiʻi. House Communications retains the copyright to all text, graphic images, videography, photography, and other content produced on @hihousedems platforms.

Unless otherwise stated, a user may, without obligation to House Communications, view, copy, link to, or distribute information found here if for non-commercial use. House Communications makes no warranty that information on this web page is free of copyright claims or other restrictions on free use. Commercial use is prohibited.

This social media policy may be revised at any time.

For more information about @hihousdems, please contact hmcommunications@capitol.hawaii.gov.

Last Updated: February 2023