Facebook Protocol

This protocol describes how Health Canada communicates with Canadians via Facebook, a free social networking site.

The department currently holds three Facebook Pages in each official language.

• The Healthy Canadians Facebook Page promotes Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Safety Canada, Canadian Food Inspections Agency and other Government of Canada social marketing campaigns specific to healthy living.
• The Healthy First Nations and Inuit Facebook Page provides a space where First Nations and Inuit community members can connect, share and learn about how they can make healthy and informed decisions for themselves and their families within their communities.

This protocol applies to the Pages listed above. Any other account or Page on Facebook bearing the Health Canada name or likeliness is not an official Health Canada account.

The use of Facebook by Health Canada is intended to encourage interaction between the user of this platform and Health Canada. Health Canada does not endorse any of the views in comments posted by users and in no way verifies or confirms the accuracy of user comments. Comments that violate these Terms of Use may be deleted by Health Canada and the user who posted the comment may be blocked by Health Canada to prevent further inappropriate comments.

We look forward to sharing information with you beyond the usual government web experience, but always encourage visits to the Health Canada website for more detailed information.

Table of Contents

• Content
• Links to Other Websites and Ads
• Posting Frequency
• Availability
• Use of "Like"
• Use of "Share"
• Favourite Pages
• Wall Comments
• Accessibility
• Copyright
• Official Languages
• Privacy
• Additional information
• Contact information

Content

The Health Canada Facebook Pages are mainly used as an alternative method for accessing the material posted in Health Canada's websites. Viewers of, and those who "like", the Health Canada Facebook accounts can expect to see information related to:

• consumer product recalls, health advisories and warnings;
• press releases and ministerial announcements;
• public health messages and social marketing campaign announcements and
• other Health Canada updates, as well as reposts of select information of value to our viewers

Links to Other Websites and Ads

From time to time the Health Canada Facebook Pages may post or display links, advertisements or banners for websites that are not under the control of Health Canada or the Government of Canada. These links are provided solely for the convenience of the users. Neither Health Canada nor the Government of Canada is responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content on these sites. Health Canada does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links or ads, nor does it endorse the sites, businesses/products/services and/or their content.

Facebook sells ad space for product and brand advertising. Advertisement in any form, whether links, banners or "Sponsored Stories" which appear on our Facebook Pages are not controlled or managed by Health Canada. Neither Health Canada nor the Government of Canada is responsible for these advertisements and does not endorse the sites, businesses/products/services and/or their content.

Posting Frequency

The number of posts will vary. During some periods, we may post more or less frequently than average. You should expect to see new posts on the three Health Canada Facebook accounts generally during regular working hours, Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST/EDT.

Availability

Health Canada Facebook updates are also subject to downtime that may be out of Health Canada's control. Because Facebook servers are managed by a third party, Health Canada accepts no responsibility for the unavailability or unresponsiveness of the Facebook network.

Use of "Like"

Health Canada's Facebook Pages are open to the public, so anyone with Internet access can view the content posted. Facebook users can also "like" the Health Canada Pages. In doing so, they allow Health Canada posts and updates to appear in their "newsfeed". Users are required to have a valid Facebook account to "like" the Health Canada accounts. Health Canada will not "friend" any individuals, or "like" any businesses that proactively "like" our account. Health Canada will only take steps to remove or block users if they do not abide by these Terms of Use. Users may also be reported to Facebook if they do not comply with Facebook's  terms of use.

Use of "Share"

Health Canada may share relevant material posted by other Government of Canada social media accounts and/or other content determined to be relevant to our Facebook community and of significant value. This may include research findings, statistics, relevant events and conferences, as well as cross-linking to information.

Favourite Pages

At this time, Health Canada's "Favourite Pages" only include other Government of Canada institutions and organizations that we believe are relevant to the mandate of our work - specifically, as it relates to helping Canadians maintain and improve their health. This could include pages of non-profit organizations, associations and other governmental agencies. The appearance of any particular page as a "favourite" of Health Canada does not imply endorsement.

Wall Comments

Feedback and interaction is highly encouraged. All wall posts and comments, as well as email sent to the Health Canada Facebook account will be read, and any emerging themes or helpful suggestions will be referred to the appropriate Health Canada staff. Although we are not able to reply individually to all messages, they will be handled on a case-by-case basis and responded to when deemed appropriate.

Health Canada cannot and does not provide medical advice, cannot comment on issues of party politics or answer questions that do not comply with Health Canada's commenting policy.

If we feel a comment or a question posed to Health Canada requires a response and/or a greater level of detail that is relevant to Canadians in general, we may develop a formal response and distribute the information through other channels such as our website or other social media channels. We will pay attention to emerging themes and helpful suggestions and look forward to this potential interaction.

Reporters are asked to send questions to the appropriate individual in Media Relations and to refrain from submitting questions on Facebook.

Health Canada will not tolerate comments that encourage the violation of Canadian law and may have to disclose personal information to law enforcement authorities if illegal activity is suspected.

The Department reserves the right to edit or remove comments including but not limited to comments that:

• are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
• are racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, slanderous, insulting, or threatening;
• put forward serious, unproven or inaccurate accusations against individuals or organizations;
• are aggressive, vulgar, indecent, rude, abusive, coarse, violent, obscene or pornographic in tone or content;
• are offensive, defamatory, disparaging or include slanderous statements to an individual or an organization;
• are not sent by the author and/or posted by anonymous or robot accounts;
• are put forward for advertising, phishing or spamming purposes or written in a language other than English or French;
• are solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency;
• contain announcements from labour or political organizations;
• contain personally identifiable information about you or any other person;
• contain any names, products or services, logos, slogans, mascots, artwork, or promotion of any brand, product or service of any company or entity, or any material protected by copyright or trademarks;
• are unintelligible or irrelevant to the Fan Page;
• encourage or suggest illegal activity;
• are repetitive or spamming of threads, and
• do not, in the moderators' opinion, add to the normal flow of the discussion.

Accessibility

Facebook, as a third party service provider, is not bound by Government of Canada policies for web accessibility. The Government of Canada is committed to achieving a high standard of accessibility and is working to address issues with third-party service provider platforms. For more information on accessibility, visit the  Facebook site.

Copyright

Information posted by Health Canada is subject to the  Copyright Act of Canada. For more information to reproduce content and symbols, visit the Important Notices page on the Health Canada website.

Copyright infringement may be reported to Facebook as per Facebook Terms of Use.

Official Languages

Health Canada respects the  Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that information products are available in both French and English, of equal quality. Health Canada's Facebook Pages are available in both official languages. Simply view the appropriate Health Canada Facebook pages.

Through the very nature of the social media forum, content will vary between the English and French Facebook Pages particularly with respect to messages and comments of users. All comments that originate from Health Canada will be made available in both official languages when it concerns both English and French communities. Comments and questions that require a response will be answered in the official language of origin or in both official languages where it is appropriate in the circumstances.

Users should be aware that some links direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written. Facebook.com is available in multiple languages including English and French. To change this user preference, go in your account settings and adjust accordingly.

Privacy

Health Canada's Facebook accounts are not Government of Canada websites and represent our presence on Facebook, a third-party service provider. Users are encouraged to read Facebook's  privacy policy which applies to all users of Facebook. Information shared with Health Canada on Facebook is subject to the provisions of the  Access to Information Act and the  Privacy Act, which means that the information may be accessed and disclosed in response to a request under either of these acts.

Some of the personal information and "conversations" provided by you to Health Canada's social media accounts is collected both by Facebook and Health Canada. Facebook "conversations" include questions and answers, comments, "likes", and other interactions where you provide feedback on content that the Department has posted, or when the Department provides you with information based on content that you post. Under the provisions of the  Privacy Act, individuals have the right of access to, correction of and protection of their personal information. Instructions for obtaining your personal information are provided in Info Source, a copy of which is available in major public and academic libraries or  online.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, Health Canada recommends that you do not include personal information in your comments or other content you post. Personal information includes home addresses and telephone numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, and any other information consisting of personal information as defined in  paragraph 3 of the Privacy Act. Should you have any questions about your privacy rights as explained in these Terms of Use, please contact the departmental Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator.

Additional Information

If you are looking for more information about the Department, please consult our website.

The usual ways of contacting us for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us section of our website. If you have questions about this policy, please contact socialmedia@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Contact information

Health Canada's Facebook accounts (Healthy First Nations and Inuit, and Healthy Canadians) are managed by the Marketing and Communications Services Directorate of Health Canada, located at:

200 Eglantine Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K9

The usual ways of contacting us for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us section of the website, including media requests.

Thank you for taking the time to read this policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.