Social media terms and conditions

This notice has been written to explain how the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada interacts with the public on social media platforms.

Your engagement with us via social media is in part governed by the Terms of Service/Use of the relevant third-party social media platform providers, as well as the following Terms and Conditions. We have no control over the social media platform providers’ Terms of Service/Use, but you are strongly encouraged to read them in addition to those that follow.

Content and frequency

We use social media accounts as an alternative method of interacting with Canadians and of sharing the content posted on our website, facilitating access to our information and services, and providing stakeholders with an opportunity to interact in an informative and respectful environment.

We understand that social media is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. You should expect to see new content posted Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET). Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read as soon as possible within our standard business hours.

Because social media platforms and their servers are managed by a third party, social media accounts are subject to downtime that may be out of our control. We accept no responsibility for platforms becoming unresponsive or unavailable.

Links to other websites and ads

Social media accounts may post or display links or ads for websites that are not under our control. These links are provided solely for the convenience of users. We are not responsible for the information found through these links or ads; neither do we endorse the sites or their content.

Following, “liking” and subscribing

Our decision to “follow,” “like” or “subscribe to” another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page or site, and neither does sharing (sharing, reposting or linking to) content from another user.

Comments and interaction

We will read comments and participate in discussions when appropriate. Your comments and contributions must be relevant and respectful.

We will not reply to questions or comments sent to us using social media channels’ private messaging systems.

We will not engage in partisan or political issues or respond to questions that violate these Terms and Conditions.

We reserve the right to remove comments and contributions, and to block users based on the following criteria:

The comments or contributions:

• include personal information
• include protected or classified information of the Government of Canada
• infringe upon intellectual property or proprietary rights
• are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Constitution Act, 1982
• are racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, or defamatory, or contain or refer to any obscenity or pornography
• are threatening, violent, intimidating or harassing
• are contrary to any federal, provincial or territorial laws of Canada
• constitute impersonation, advertising or spam
• encourage or incite any criminal activity
• are written in a language other than English or French
• or otherwise violate this notice.

If we find that you are in repeated violation of these Terms and Conditions, we will remove your ability to post comments on our accounts.

We reserve the right to report users and/or their comments and contributions to third-party social media service providers to prevent or remove the posting of content that is contrary to these terms and conditions, or to the Terms of Service/Use of the third-party social media platform.

Accessibility of social media platforms

Social media platforms are third-party service providers and are not bound by Government of Canada standards for Web accessibility.

If you have difficulty accessing content on our social media accounts, please contact us and we will try to solve the problem or provide you with the information in a different format.

Copyright

Information posted by the Government of Canada is subject to the Copyright Act.

Privacy

Social media accounts are not Government of Canada websites and represent only our presence on third-party service providers.

In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of the Government of Canada, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the Web server of the third-party service provider.

If you make inappropriate comments or contributions, we may remove them. We may also block you or report you to third-party social media service providers if your comments or contributions violate these terms and conditions. When doing so and to the extent necessary, we may use and disclose your personal information.

The following personal information banks describe how we handle personal information that we collect through our social media accounts: Public Communications (PSU 914) and Outreach Activities (PSU 938).

Your rights

When you interact with Government of Canada official social media accounts, your social media profile information may be recorded as per the practices of the social media platform. However, you have the right to refuse to give us any additional personal information when you interact with us on social media. There will be no legal or administrative consequences, but you might not be able to take part in a particular activity.

You can ask to access personal information that you have given us via our social media accounts. To access this information, you can fill out a personal information request form.

Your responsibilities

If you choose to interact with us on social media, you should read these terms and conditions. You should also read the terms of service and the privacy policies of the social media platform provider and those of any applications you use to access that platform.

You participate in social media at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, do not include full names, home phone numbers or e-mail addresses, Social Insurance Numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, or any other personal information in your comment.

Our responsibilities

Whenever we collect personal information from you on social media and whenever personal information is created as a result of your interactions with us on social media, we have to comply with the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.

Questions and concerns

If you have questions, comments, concerns or complaints about how we collect, use and store your personal information, contact the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s privacy coordinator.

If you are not satisfied, contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, by telephone at 1 800 282-1376 or visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.

Official languages

Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how to set your preferences.

The Government of Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that our information is available in both English and French and that both versions are of equal quality.

We reply to comments in the official language in which they are posted. If we think the response is a question of general public interest, we may respond in both official languages.

We may share links that direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and available only in the language(s) in which they are written. When content is available in only one language, we make an effort to provide similar content in the other official language.

Questions

Please send questions to socialmedia-mediassociaux@iaac-aeic.gc.ca.