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Social Media Terms of Use

Public Health Sudbury & Districts is currently actively engaged on the following social media platforms:

We also occasionally post videos on:

These Social Media Terms of Use apply to you when you communicate with Public Health Sudbury & Districts through our social media accounts—please read them carefully.

What to expect from our social media posts

Public Health Sudbury & Districts social media accounts are a place for the community and anyone interested in public health to engage with us and with one another. We use social media to engage and communicate with the communities we serve in a quick and efficient manner. Our mission is to work with our communities to promote and protect health and to prevent disease for everyone. Social media is a valuable tool to help us achieve our mission.

Our accounts vary in terms of frequency of posts and content, but we typically aim to post a few times a day (excluding weekends and holidays observed in Ontario). We strive to publish recent and relevant evidence-based health content that supports our mission. Occasionally we like to have some fun as well! Feel free to ask us any public health related questions or comment on our posts.

Posting guidelines

The following posting guidelines apply to any social media where users can directly post onto a Public Health Sudbury & Districts account (either by commenting or adding an original post).

  1. We do not allow comments, posts, or direct messages that are disrespectful, abusive, hateful or intended to defame anyone or any organization, nor do we allow obscene, explicit, or racial content.
  2. We reserve the right to and will delete comments or messages that:
    • are spam or advertising
    • are clearly off-topic or disruptive
    • advocate illegal activity
    • contain personal information, including personal health information
    • express racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, slanderous, insulting, intolerant, or life-threatening messages
    • are offensive to an individual or an organization, rude in tone, or otherwise abusive
    • promote services, products, or political organizations
    • infringe on copyrights or trademarks
    • violate any Public Health Sudbury & Districts policies
  3. You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments and messages, your username, and any information you share.
  4. Comments and posts expressed by fans or followers of our social media accounts do not reflect the opinions and position of Public Health Sudbury & Districts or its employees.

Availability

Although comments and replies are welcome on our social media accounts at any time, Public Health Sudbury & Districts will monitor and update its social media accounts during regular business hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Any monitoring or updating outside of these hours is likely due to an emergency or special circumstance.

Response time

Public Health Sudbury & Districts will do its best to respond to any questions (that don’t violate these Terms of Use) within one business day. We make an effort to review posted comments and messages, but cannot guarantee a response to all comments or moderating all discussions. However, while we may not respond to all questions or comments, we will attempt to participate or intervene as appropriate, or provide a response when possible. All comments and messages received will be responded to on a case-by-case basis, when deemed appropriate.

Things to consider

Public health advice and emergencies

The information and resources provided by Public Health Sudbury & Districts via social media are provided as general information and are not intended as a substitute for health care advice. Public Health Sudbury & Districts will not offer medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment via social media. If you need emergency medical care or are in crisis, call 9-1-1 immediately. If you need health care on a non-urgent basis, please consult with your health care provider, or if you live in Ontario, call Health811 to connect with a registered nurse day or night for free, secure, and confidential health advice by dialing 811 (TTY 1.866.797.0007). For public health emergencies that require an immediate response after hours or on public holiday closures, please call us at 705.688.4366.

Privacy

To protect the privacy of all individuals, please DO NOT include personal names, photographs, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment or post, or identifiable information about your own or someone else’s health care or health status. Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ social media accounts are a public spaces, and comments and photographs on this page are available for all to see. Posts that include personal information may be deleted at our sole discretion.

If you do post personal information, including personal health information, on any Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ social media accounts, you are consenting to the collection and use of that information by Public Health Sudbury & Districts. Such information will be collected for the purpose of obtaining feedback on our programs and policies and will be used to assess public views on those programs and services and other issues. We may also use information that you post to reply to questions you pose, to direct you to other informational resources, or to respond to your comments. In most cases, responses by Public Health Sudbury & Districts will be available for all to see.

Comments may also be used and disclosed by Public Health Sudbury & Districts as required or permitted by applicable law, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004.

Questions

If you have any questions related to our use of social media, please contact us.

This item was last modified on December 29, 2023