Community Standards
About the standards
City of Port Phillip’s social media channels exist to inform residents, businesses, and visitors about our services, activities, and events. We encourage you to engage with us and join these online conversations.
We want our social media pages to be a positive experience for everyone. To keep our online communities safe and respectful, we ask that all users follow these community standards when interacting with our channels.
These standards apply to all interactions on our official social media pages.
Our social media channels are moderated during business hours, Monday to Friday. Comments made outside business hours may not be reviewed until the next business day.
Comments for corporate channels will be switched off on weekends, and on public holidays.
The standards
| Standard | What this means |
| Respectful conduct | We welcome feedback, including feedback that challenges and questions, as long as it remains respectful. Posts or tags that use abusive, inflammatory, or obscene language will be removed without notification. |
| Discrimination | Posts or tags that include discriminatory comments attacking age, disability, family status, gender, nationality, race, social origin, sexuality, religion, or political beliefs will be removed. Repeat breaches may result in the person being suspended or banned. |
| Bullying and harassment | All contributors are expected to treat each other with dignity and respect, fostering an environment free from intimidation or offensive behaviour. Comments breaching this guideline will be removed and the person posting may be suspended or banned. |
| Confidentiality and privacy | Please do not share confidential or sensitive information such as phone numbers, email addresses, or home addresses on our social media platforms. Comments containing personal information will be removed to keep everyone safe. |
| Child safeguarding | We are committed to being a Child Safe Organisation. Any comments or images that may compromise the safety or wellbeing of children and young people will be deleted and reported in line with Council’s Child Safe Policy and procedures. |
| Staying on topic | Please keep comments relevant to the topic of the post. Comments or tags that are off-topic, repetitive, or do not contribute to the discussion may be removed. |
| Spam and promotion | Our social media channels are not platforms for commercial or political promotion. Comments that advertise businesses, products, political parties, or campaigns may be removed. |
| Trolling and disruption | Deliberate disruption, trolling, or provocation is not permitted. Such comments will be removed and the person posting may be suspended or banned. |
| Copyright | Do not infringe upon copyright or intellectual property laws when sharing content on our platforms. Always give proper credit to the original creators of any material you share. |
| Misinformation | Information that is false, unfounded, or misleading - whether intentional or not - may be removed. We may respond with factual information where appropriate. |
| Illegal content | Posts that breach the law - including copyright, privacy, defamation, discrimination, and harassment laws - will be removed without notification. |
| Platform terms | In addition to these guidelines, all users must comply with the Terms of Service of the platform they are using (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn). |
What happens if these standards are breached?
We reserve the right to:
- Hide or remove comments that breach these standards
- Turn off comments on posts where moderation is not possible
- Issue a warning
- Suspend or permanently ban users who repeatedly issued a warning and breach these standards
- Report content to the relevant platform or authorities where required.
Privacy and records
Comments and interactions on our social media channels may be considered public records under the Public Records Act 1973 and may be subject to Freedom of Information requests.
Posts on City of Port Phillip’s social media pages by community members do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Port Phillip City Council, nor does the Council confirm their accuracy.
Contact us
If you have a question, complaint, or service request, please contact us directly rather than via social media comments:
Send us a message on My Port Phillip
Phone: 03 9209 6777