Facebook House Rules
Thanks for taking the time to check out our house rules - they are a condition of use of this Page. Our page is a place where people can get advice on staying safe as well as stories and updates from Derbyshire Constabulary. Naturally, we want you to be able to join in with comments on what we and other people are saying so you can tell us how you feel, share insight
s and concerns and talk to other members of the Derbyshire community. However, we also want this to be a Page where everyone feels welcome. Please take a look at our house rules below to understand the standards we want people to adhere to in order to make our Page a tolerant and respective place for all.
1. Be nice
We have a zero-tolerance approach to offensive comments on our Page. If we see a post that is insulting, threatening, offensive (i.e. racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, obscene, inflammatory) or contains a link to offensive material, we will remove it, either by hiding the comment or deleting, depending on its severity. We want everyone to feel comfortable using our sites to communicate with us so please do not swear in your posts or post anything people may consider distasteful. Our profanity filter is set to strong which means that our Page moderation automatically hides posts that contain offensive language. If you use a mixture of characters to try and navigate around this filter, we will find it and remove it if it hasn’t been automatically hidden already. Sometimes we will also hide comments on posts that are intended to de-rail conversations away from the original subject matter, particularly where the subject of the post may find the dialogue upsetting. This means the comment isn’t visible to anyone except the person who posted it and their friends. We will also remove any post we spot that we think might be trying to offend, intimidate or deliberately provoke other people. In short, if we see comments being:
Abusive
Defamatory
Hateful
Racially offensive
Sexually offensive
Obscene
Inflammatory
Unlawful
…we will remove them.
2. Keep it legal
Remember everything you say on here is public. You are legally responsible for what you say and post on this Page. Don’t post anything that is: defamatory, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading; in violation of copyright/someone else’s intellectual property; at risk of causing serious prejudice to a trial; or in violation of any other laws or regulations. Your views are solely your own and not those of the Derbyshire Constabulary. The constabulary does not endorse any opinions on this Page other than its own. Further to this, if we feel that a comment on our Page represents an offence legally, such as the broad range of hate offences, we will look to our options to investigate the individual responsible.
3. Stick to the topic
We’ve set up this Page to keep you up to date with the latest stories and advice from the constabulary. If we think you’re trying to dominate posts on our Page with unrelated topics, we may delete your post. If you persist with this, we may ban you from the Page. The same principle applies to spam and spammers. Do not use our sites for posting spam or adverts for products or services you or your business offers.
4. Personal details
Please keep yourself safe when using online platforms. Do not post your personal details, such as your address or phone number, when posting publicly on our sites. If you have contacted us via Messenger, for example, and an officer or staff member wants to contact you in return, they will privately message you, if possible, asking for your contact details.
5. GIFs and emojis are fine, but no pics
You cannot post pictures in our comments area but you can post GIFs. But if these GIFs are deemed by us to be offensive, in bad taste, aggressive, threatening and in any way not in keeping with the spirit of the topic, we will remove them. The same applies to emojis, if we feel they are being used to convey an offensive message.
6. Do not pretend to be someone else
Be yourself. Impersonating another user by setting up a fake account, for whatever reason, is not only against Facebook’s terms and conditions but it will result in your comments being removed and may lead to a ban.
7. Don’t report crime in comments
This is really important. This Page isn’t monitored 24 hours a day and reporting an incident in our comments may not be seen for a period of time, and also exposes you to risks. If you need to talk to us about a crime, please refer to the contact methods in our bio, such as using our Messenger function. If it’s an emergency, you should always call 999. If you’ve come across something on Facebook you think breaks Facebook’s terms and conditions, you should report it to Facebook.
8. Operating hours
This Page is monitored between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Please note that during this time, we will deal with offensive comments posted to our Page in a reasonable time. Please note that our call centre offer a 24/7 reporting service for non-emergencies via the Messenger button on this page. If you do notice any offensive comments on our Page at any time, please send us a private Facebook message and let us know:
- which story the comment was posted on
- the name of the profile that sent the comment
- the time the comment was sent
- the content of the comment
Remember: We reserve the right to remove posts or ban any users that breach these guidelines, without explanation, and change our guidelines at any time and without notice. We very rarely have a need to ban people from our Page and will only do so after careful consideration. What you can expect from us
How often will I see your updates? If you Follow us on Facebook, you can expect to see several updates daily - more frequently on weekdays, but also at weekends. If there is a major incident that affects a lot of people in Derbyshire, or an emergency situation where getting accurate information and instructions to you quickly is essential, we will use Facebook and Twitter as the main platforms for distributing that information. Much of the information will contain links back to the force website for a more detailed explanation. If you post a genuine question on our Page, which has not been covered in the context of the post, and which we feel warrants a response based on the post’s content or sentiment, you can expect a response from us. However, we cannot reply to everyone who posts to us and it may not always be possible to reply immediately. We will not respond to rhetoric or any abuse aimed our way. There are some topics or cases that we will not be able to discuss due to a number of reasons, including criminal proceedings being active or investigations being under way. If this is the case, we will tell you. Who monitors this page? We’d like to highlight that no police officers contribute to the update and monitoring of this Page. It is run by specialist personnel in the Communication and Engagement team whose role it is to inform and engage with the public about relevant news, enquiries, appeals, campaigns and events, to help our officers detect and solve crimes as well as protecting and informing the public.
