Social media terms of use

Stay informed and engaged with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) through our social media channels. We share the latest news, safety tips and ways to get involved. We encourage you to like, share, and comment. Our Term of Use are below:

I. Acceptance of Terms of Use. These Terms of Use apply to all comments, questions, messages and posts of any kind on an official social media account maintained by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety or one of its divisions (collectively referred to as “DPS”). This includes, but is not limited to, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Nextdoor, Bluesky and Threads (collectively referred to as “social media sites”). DPS reserves the right to revise, change, modify, or remove portions or all of these Terms of Use with or without prior notice. Any revisions, changes or modifications to the Terms of Use shall be posted on this webpage with the date of the most current version. By participating on any official DPS social media site, you agree to be bound by and to comply with the DPS Terms of Use.

II. Purpose of DPS social media sites. The purpose of DPS’ official social media sites is to publish information about the work, programs and services that DPS and its divisions provides to the public.

III. Limited public forum. DPS’ official social media sites are limited public forums. Comments, questions and messages posted on an official social media site must be on-topic and relevant to the original post to which the comment, question or message is responding. DPS does not permit users to create their own posts on DPS’ official social media sites. Comments, questions or messages that are off topic or that violate the guidelines in paragraph IV will be deleted by DPS. 

IV. Guidelines for comments, questions and messages. Subject to the following guidelines, DPS encourages members of the public to engage with us by submitting comments and questions related to information DPS posts on its official social media sites. DPS does not allow content on its social media sites that:

1. Contains profane, obscene, sexually explicit, defamatory, or harassing language or images;
2. Contains threats to any person or organization, or encourages or promotes illegal activity;
3. Communicates private personal information of any person, including home address, home or cell phone number, personal email address or other personal identification information;
4. Contains language or content which promotes, fosters, or perpetuates harassment or    discrimination on the basis of protected classes;
5. Is generated by automatic software programs (bots);
6. Promotes, endorses or opposes campaign activities for elected office;
7. Solicits for, promotes or advertises a business or product, or proposes a commercial transaction;
8. Infringes on patents, copyrights, trademarks or any other legally protected intellectual property interest;
9. Contains malicious or harmful software;
10. Contains duplicate content posted repeatedly in a short period of time (spam); or
11. Violates any applicable federal, state or local law. 

V. Third-party terms and control. DPS does not own or control the third-party platforms that host its social media sites. Those platform providers have their own separate policies and standards which govern use on these official social media sites in addition to these Terms of Use. DPS or other users may report comments, questions and messages that may be in violation of the terms of use of a platform provider. DPS is not responsible for any action that may be taken by a platform provider.

VI. License to use posts, comments, messages and questions. By posting a comment, message or question on an official DPS’ social media site, you are granting DPS and its divisions, employees and officials a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, adapt, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, translate and reformat your comment in any existing or future media. You additionally agree that DPS may publish or otherwise disclose your name or username in connection with your comment.

VII. Data requests. Requests for data pursuant to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act cannot be submitted through DPS’ official social media sites. Data requests can be submitted through our public record requests webpage.

VIII. Disclaimer. DPS monitors its official social media accounts during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Users who engage with DPS social media accounts do so at their own risk. DPS is not responsible for the security of any user’s electronic equipment, username, password, comments, content or other personal information. The views and opinions expressed in user-generated comments or content are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of DPS. The appearance, reposting, following, sharing or reposting of user-generated comments or content on an official DPS social media account does not imply endorsement by DPS. DPS makes no warranties or representations regarding the safety, accuracy, reliability, validity or completeness of third-party products, services, links, claims, advertisements or information that may appear on its official social media pages.