UMass Boston

UMass Boston is committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for all—including in our digital communities. The following policy is designed to support constructive interactions on UMass Boston's social media channels.

• Purpose and Scope.  Anyone and everyone may participate in UMass Boston's social media channels. These channels are created and maintained for the purpose of discussing the university—our shared culture, news, achievements, and aspirations. These channels do not exist for the purpose of attacking individuals or spreading hate. This policy does not apply to digital advertising placed by the university for enrollment or other purposes.
   
• Respect.  Anyone and everyone may participate in UMass Boston's social media channels. All community members are expected to be respectful of one another, even when expressing differences. Please ask yourself if you are being respectful before sharing.
   
• Moderation.  UMass Boston is committed to upholding the freedom of speech of the individual and encouraging a dialog of diverse perspectives. Interactions are not "groomed" to favor any particular viewpoint. Social media managers will only moderate in exceptional circumstances, when a post or comment falls outside of the scope of a social media channel and into a narrowly defined unacceptable category. Moderation can be appealed by emailing news@umb.edu.
   
• Unacceptable Content.  Bullying and harassment are never okay. UMass Boston reserves the right to hide or delete posts or comments that fall into unacceptable categories:
   
  • Harassment, bullying, threats, or hate speech directed at an individual
  • Spam, sales pitches, obscenity, or content that is so irrelevant to the university as to fall outside the scope of the channel
  • Content that infringes on an individual's right to privacy, e.g. publishing a person’s private contact information
  • Content that appears to infringe on copyright or trademark
  • Content that appears to constitute or encourage illegal activity
  • Content that appears to compromise the immediate safety or security of an individual or a public system
     
• Blocking.  Social media managers will go to great lengths to avoid blocking an individual. An individual will only be blocked under exceptional circumstances, after at least three instances of sharing clearly unacceptable content, and at least three warnings to the individual. Blocking can be appealed by emailing social@umb.edu.
   
• Disclosure.  If a comment or post falls within the above categories, social media managers may be required to share the information with appropriate university departments, including Admissions and the Dean of Students.