Social Media Policy
Moderating Accounts & Content
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus social media platforms are intended to provide information about the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. While we follow the university’s longstanding commitment to free speech and encourage you to share comments and interact with us, we will review all content and comments and remove any that contain threats, hate speech, sexually explicit or pornographic material, obscenity, illegal suggestions, unauthorized advertisements/SPAM/solicitation or the exposure of another user’s protected data.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus social accounts abide by the specific platforms terms, standards, rules, guidelines or policy and we ask you to do the same. For example, content that might be considered free speech for an individual may still be removed for violating one of the platform’s specific policies.
Additionally, administrators of Facebook Groups – created for student, faculty and staff engagement – will remove a member if the individual is not an admitted or current member of the CU Anschutz community or for any of the reasons cited
above.
If you encounter threatening comments on a page/post, please contact the CU Anschutz Office of Communications.
Users are expected to abide by applicable laws, regulations, rules and policies including the university’s Student Code of Conduct, the university's Discrimination and Harassment Policies listed below and other regulations and policies concerning public communications.
- APS 5014-2021 Sexual Misconduct, Intimate Partner Violence, and Stalking
- APS 5065-2021 Protected Class Nondiscrimination
Comments, images and other content posted to the social accounts do not necessarily represent the opinions of the university. By participating on CU Anschutz social media platforms,
you acknowledge this policy and agree to the terms above.
Guidelines apply to all members of the CU Anschutz community that oversee or engage on the behalf of a CU Anschutz-affiliated social media account.
Social Media Guidelines
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Patient Stories/HIPAA Regulations
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Political & Other Statements
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Crisis/Emergency Situations
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Respecting Copyrights
You must receive written consent to post pictures of patients, parts of patients, names of patient, or any likeness of a patient (e.g. name, medical record number, screenshots or EMR), even if they give you express permission.
Prior to posting anything related to a patient on social media, social administrators must follow HIPAA regulations and complete the CU Anschutz HIPAA model form. When in doubt or uncertain, always reach out to your communication director for guidance. If you do receive patient consent, be sure to remain mindful about what content you share with your audience. If you plan to share more “graphic” content on Instagram, consider creating a “warning” slide.
Please avoid statements (political or otherwise) on university platforms or elsewhere that in any way imply or infer that the statement is on behalf of the university or one of its units. While university units can issue statements on behalf of the institution, that can only be done with the explicit approval of university leadership. In addition, individuals or units cannot lobby on behalf of the university unless they are in compliance with the University’s Administrative Policy Statement on Federal Lobbying Activities.
This policy notes that : “For purposes of this policy, only administrative officers, as defined by action of the Board of Regents, and members of the Board of Regents, are authorized to act on behalf of the University of Colorado when conducting federal lobbying activities with the federal government.” The University’s Administrative Policy Statement on State Lobbying Activities says: “University funds or other university resources may not be used for private or personal state lobbying.”
The Office of Communications will assist you and take steps to mitigate damage to the University when appropriate. This includes all school/college/department/program/center accounts across the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. If you’re experiencing
a crisis on social media, immediately contact the Office of Communications for assistance. In the event of a campuswide emergency, refrain from posting and unschedule posts across your social media
channels as you wait for instructions and/or guidance from the Office of Communications.
Copyright can be a tricky thing on social media. When using content from another individual be sure to credit them. It’s a small way of showing gratitude that can save you a lot of headaches later on. If you have questions on social media copyright, please contact CU Anschutz legal counsel.
The Do's & Don'ts
| DO | DON'T |
| Have the authorization to post on your department’s behalf | Post private, restricted or sensitive information |
| Follow all university policies | Post pictures of patients, parts or patients, names of patient, or any likeness or a patient (e.g. name, medical record number, screenshots or EMR), even if they give you express permission |
| Protect confidential and proprietary information | Post an unprofessional comment regarding a colleague, including a student, nurse, resident, faculty, consultant, another hospital, educator, or administrator, or anything that could be taken out of context and damaging to the university’s reputation |
| Respect copyright and fair use | Engage in arguments or negative dialogue when someone disagrees with your post |
| Ensure the security of your social media account | Represent your personal views as those of the university |
| Be transparent | Use the stand-alone logo of the university as your sole image |
| Be respectful and thoughtful | Use images that are too small to easily recognize in a browser or on mobile devices |
| Be consistent and timely | Design your own department logo that is not recognizable as being affiliated with the University of Colorado – Contact Office of Communications for assistance and approval of all marks |
| Strive for accuracy | Use the university logo or any other university images or iconography on personal social media sites |
| Refer to the Office of Communications website for proper social media branding and naming conventions | Post anything discussed in settings where privacy or confidentiality is expected (e.g. private meetings) |
| Prominently list the university on the social media site and not only the name of the department | Discuss a situation involving named or pictured individuals on a social media. As a guideline, do not post anything that you would not present in any public forum |
| Avoid punctuation such as periods and underscores when naming the account | Assume anything electronic is private: social media communications related to university business may be considered public and obtained by request under Colorado Open Records Act |
| Make sure your privacy settings appropriately safeguard against inappropriate viewing and sharing | |
| Be aware that your affiliation with a specific program, department or center is public knowledge whether you disclose it or not. Even personal social media posts can be inappropriately associated with the university. |