Social media policy
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Use of social media by employees of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
The Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees guides the use of social media by our employees. It guides all use of social media either when acting as an official representative of the Victorian public sector or private use, as outlined in the official code of conduct.
Social media definition
Social media is the term used for internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information, opinions, experiences insights and perspectives among people and organisations.
Core to any social media is the development of online communities resulting from shared interests, subjects or topics among individual or organisational users.
This includes user-generated information, opinion and other content shared and discussed over open digital networks.
Social media may include:
- social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn)
- video and photo sharing sites (e.g. Instagram, YouTube, Keek)
- blogs, including corporate blogs, personal blogs and blogs hosted by media outlets (e.g. 'comments' or 'your say' feature on mainstream media websites)
- micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter)
- wikis and online collaborations (e.g. Wikipedia, Clouds)
- forums, discussion boards and groups (e.g. Google groups, Whirlpool)
- vod and podcasting
- online multiplayer gaming platforms (e.g. World of Warcraft, Second life)
- instant messaging (including Sametime, WhatsApp and Snapchat)
- geo-spatial tagging (e.g. Foursquare).
Social media also includes other emerging electronic/digital communication applications.
Terms of use
The Foundation encourages well-intentioned discussion on its social media channels. In using the Foundation’s social media channels, all users and participants agree to behave in a respectful manner towards the Foundation, our moderators and towards other community members.
Users and participants agree not to make comments that:
- disrespect others and their opinions
- reveal any personal or sensitive information about others on this page, including naming people who are affected by gambling harm
- promote incorrect or inexpert advice or other information
- are misleading, obscene, abusive, off-topic, or discriminatory to any groups (including stigmatising towards people who gamble)
- are promotional or commercial
- are unlawful or encourage others to break the law
- defame or harass Foundation employees or other participants in our channels
- are copied and pasted or duplicated by users
- repeat comments continuously
- promote anything that may constitute spam, such as commercial interests, solicitations, advertisements or endorsements of any non-governmental agency.
- are inappropriate as determined at the discretion of the Foundation.
Please protect your personal privacy by not including email addresses, phone numbers or home addresses in public posts or comments.
The Foundation reserves the right to hide or delete any comments that it considers, within its discretion, fall within the above description, and to ban or block those breaching the Terms of use from its pages or channels. The Foundation reserves the right, in its discretion, to switch off the comment function on any of the Foundation’s pages or social media channels at any time.
Complaints regarding social media comments or content
If you have a complaint regarding a comment or content contained in one of our social media posts, please send a direct message to the Foundation using the platform in question (Facebook, Twitter etc). Alternatively, please see the next section on how to make a formal complaint.
Enquiries via social media
Whilst we can respond to simple questions or issues via our social media pages, many matters can't be resolved via social media. You may need to contact the Foundation by phone or email in order to get assistance.
Click on this link to provide feedback or make a complaint:
Registering feedback or making a complaint
Content on our social media channels is provided for information purposes only. Information about a service, product or treatment is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional. If you have health concerns, you should contact a local healthcare professional. We cannot offer personalised health advice via our social media channels.
Disclaimer
Please note that we cannot offer support or counselling services through our social media channels. Please call Gambler's Help on 1800 858 858 or visit www.gamblershelp.com.au
The Foundation’s social media pages are provided for general information only. The State of Victoria does not represent or warrant that the content on this page is accurate, authentic or complete or that the information contained on the page is suitable for your needs. You must not rely on this page as a statement of government policy, except where clearly stated. Except where clearly stated as such, the comments or statements posted by persons on this page are not comments or statements made or endorsed by the State of Victoria or the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, nor do they represent the views or opinions of the State of Victoria or the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
To the extent permitted by law, the State of Victoria excludes liability for any loss or damage (including loss from viruses) caused by use or reliance, or arising from any comment or statement posted by any person on this social media page. The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation may amend or withdraw material or comments on this page at any time without notice.