Social Media Engagement Policy
The Office of the Ombudsman is an independent office of the Ontario legislature that handles tens of thousands of public complaints about provincial government bodies and municipalities, universities and school boards. Wherever possible, we resolve complaints quickly and informally – but we can also investigate administrative problems and recommend solutions to improve governance.
Communicating with the public is fundamental to everything we do, and we use social media to raise awareness of our work, to foster public discussion and to explain how we can help Ontarians.
Although we cannot take complaints via social media because those platforms are not confidential (we refer users to our confidential online complaint forms instead), we encourage public engagement on all our social accounts.
We use the same approach in social media as we do in all our work: Wherever possible and as quickly as possible, we refer you to helpful information to point you in the right direction – and we welcome constructive feedback.
Our social media accounts:
What you can expect from us:
We strive to share helpful information and engage in cordial, respectful dialogue with our followers, with the expectation that those who converse with us will do the same.
Here are some more details about what you can expect from our office on social media:
Who’s speaking:
All of our social media accounts represent the Office of the Ombudsman and are maintained by our Communications section. Occasional posts written by Ombudsman Paul Dubé are signed with the initials "PD" and posts written by the interim French Language Services Commissioner Carl Bouchard are signed "CB".
Frequency:
We post several times a day on both of our Twitter accounts (English and French) and on Facebook, on weekdays during business hours and occasionally on evenings and weekends. During significant events such as a news conference or speech by the Ombudsman, we may post more frequently to provide “live” updates. Updates to other platforms are made as warranted.
Content:
On Facebook and Twitter, we share news and updates about our work, usually linking to more detailed information on our website. We also share media articles and government announcements that we think are of interest to our followers; sharing these items is not an endorsement of their content. On YouTube, we post video of speeches, presentations and press conferences by the Ombudsman and other representatives of our office. On LinkedIn, we share job postings and news about our office – and on Flickr, we share work-related images and photos that can be used by media and others upon consent.
Complaints and questions:
We cannot take complaints via social media. Would-be complainants are directed to our confidential online complaint form. We answer general questions as warranted and wherever possible.
Official languages:
Ombudsman Ontario is committed to communicating with and providing service to the public in both English and French. We post official announcements about our work (news releases, etc.) in both languages, on Facebook and Twitter. News stories are shared in the language of origin, and questions are answered in the language of the user. Posts related to events are in the language of the event, and in both languages wherever possible.
Following:
Our Twitter accounts may “follow back” interested followers and our Facebook and YouTube accounts “like” and subscribe to accounts with content that is of some relevance or interest to our office.
Monitoring:
We monitor all our accounts on an ongoing basis and will act quickly to delete material that is contrary to this policy.
Copyright:
We reserve the right to use any public posts on our social media platforms in our print and online communications.
What we expect from you:
We value the opportunity to engage with members of the public via social media. Your feedback and comments are important to us and are appreciated.
Please note the following when you post to our accounts:
Content:
We welcome posts to our social media platforms that are relevant to our work, our mandate and the independent, impartial nature of our office. The fact that a follower’s post appears on our platforms does not imply endorsement by our office. We reserve the right to limit comments and remove posts from our social media accounts at our sole discretion. This includes posts that we determine to be disrespectful, involve solicitation, are not related to the Ombudsman’s work or mandate, and/or reveal too much personal information about the user or others will be deleted at our discretion.
Tone:
We welcome opinions and questions that reflect the respectful, constructive tone we strive for in all of our public interactions. Posts that are abusive, hateful, threatening, discriminatory, defamatory, profane or otherwise offensive will be deleted or hidden, and users who make such posts may be blocked or banned.
How to reach us:
Questions or concerns about our social media accounts or this policy can be emailed to our Communications team at thewatchdog@ombudsman.on.ca.