The Social Media Policy of the Chamber of Deputies
Terms and conditions for the use of social networks

Who and where

The Chamber of Deputies makes use of the main social media channels of the Internet to communicate with citizens.

This document sets out the rules of conduct, or “netiquette,” governing social media use, which must also comply with the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, administrative provisions, and statutory law.

The institutional channels are administered by the Head of the Chamber’s Press Office, who is also in charge of communications.

Content

The Chamber of Deputies uses social media channels for several purposes: to keep the public informed about its institutional activities, which include business conducted on the Floor of the House as well as work done by parliamentary bodies; to promote events open to the public; and to enrich the Chamber of Deputies’ wealth of documentary resources.

The Chamber of Deputies produces its own content consisting of text, photographs, infographics, videos and other multimedia material, and publishes them under a Creative Commons CC BYND 3.0, which means that the content may be reproduced free of charge as long as its original source is cited and acknowledged.

Comments and posts from users, who are asked to sign in always under their real first and last names, express the views of private individuals and not those of the Chamber of Deputies, which shall therefore not be held accountable for the same.

The rules on content moderation are set out in the following section.

Moderation

The social media channels of the Chamber of Deputies are moderated Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and continue to be monitored after hours and on public holidays.

The Chamber of Deputies asks contributors to online discussions to ensure their comments are courteous, pertinent, and respectful.

The social media channels of the Chamber of Deputies are open to everyone for the free expression of personal opinions, provided it is done in a courteous and respectful manner. Comments and posts are also pre-moderated, and any that violate the terms and conditions set out in this document shall be promptly removed.

Insults, foul language, threats or attitudes that are detrimental to the dignity of persons and/or institutions, to the rights of minorities and/or children, and/or to the principles of freedom and equality shall not be tolerated. In particular, the following are unacceptable:

• content that promotes, favours, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of sex, race, language, religion, political opinion, creed, age, marital status, public welfare status, nationality, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation;
• content of a sexual nature or links to content of a sexual nature;
• content of a commercial nature;
• content that is conducive to or encouraging of illegal activity;
• content that may compromise the safety or security of public systems;
• content that violates legal ownership or third-party rights;
• comments or posts that disclose sensitive information in breach of the law on personal data protection.

Certain types of comments and posts are discouraged, and shall always be subject to moderation if they:

• are thematically off-topic;
• favour or oppose a political campaign or indicate a voting preference;
• contain offensive language or content;
• are intended to disrupt a discussion or offend those who administer and moderate the social media channels;
• contain spam;
• are posted repeatedly.

The Chamber of Deputies reserves the right to remove any content that it deems to be in violation of this social media policy or contrary to the law.

The Chamber of Deputies also reserves the right to ban or block anyone who violates these terms and conditions or fails to abide by the policies of the relevant social media instruments, and may report the violation to the administrators of the platform, as well as, if necessary, to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

Privacy

For the processing of personal data, the Chamber of Deputies applies the same policies as adopted by the relevant social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). Sensitive data disclosed in comments or public posts on the social media channels of the Chamber of Deputies shall be removed (see section on Moderation). Information shared by users through private messages sent directly to the channels of the Chamber shall be handled according to the Italian law on personal data protection.