Pinellas County Health Department

DOH achieves and maintains quality results and outcomes through continuous performance improvement and learning. For official DOH info, visit

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S FACEBOOK COMMENT POLICY

Thank you for visiting the Department of Health’s (DOH) Facebook page. The function of this page is to highlight, inform and promote the importance of health in families and communities statewide. DOH’s page provides an avenue through which the public can receive supportive, educational and up-to-date information to help establish and sustain a healthier future for the people of Florida.

While DOH encourages viewers to actively engage in open communication on our Facebook page by contributing comments and conversations related to public health in Florida, we remind viewers that the statements and opinions expressed in posted comments represent those of the party responsible for the posting and do not reflect the overarching views or goals of DOH or the state of Florida.

DOH does not guarantee that information posted by users is accurate, and disclaims any liability for loss or damages resulting from reliance on any such information. DOH does not endorse or support any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our page.

DOH reserves the right to remove any posts that do not align with the page’s purpose of serving the public with unbiased, factual health information and resources. Grounds for removal include postings containing or suggesting any of the following:

• Profanity, obscenity or vulgarity
• Hate speech or suggestion thereof
• Off-topic and unrelated comments that do not focus on public health objectives in Florida
• Inappropriate pictures, including nudity, indecency and inhumanity in profile and posted pictures
• Defamation to a person or group of people
• Name calling and/or personal attacks
• Comments designed to sell a product or service
• Spam, including identical comments posted repeatedly
• Language that infringes on copyrights
• Suggestion or advocacy of illegal activity
• Links to non-governmental or unrelated websites
• Any other postings that the DOH Communications Team deems inappropriate for public viewership

All comments, images, links and stories posted on DOH’s Facebook page will be reviewed in as timely a manner as possible and deleted if not in compliance with the policy standards stated above.

Florida has a broad public records law that requires all state government agencies to provide access to public records. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are public records available to the public and media upon request. In order to comply with the state’s public records laws, DOH does not utilize messaging or instant messaging via its Facebook page as these vehicles do not allow for permanent storage of public records.

A social media email account supplements these messaging services by providing the public a place to speak directly with the DOH social media team through an avenue that can store the files for public records. Please email @ to address any comments, questions or concerns.

In order to properly protect your privacy, we also advise visitors not to post confidential information on our page. DOH reserves the right to modify its Facebook comment policy at any time. We remain committed to creating opportunities for sharing appropriate public health-related information and fostering dialogue that reflects transparency and open government in Florida. .