DISCLAIMERS, POLICIES & STATEMENTS

Social Media Policy

Board of Water Supply, City and County of Honolulu

contactus@hbws.org

The Board of Water Supply, City and County of Honolulu (BWS) has created social media channels to enable communication between the public and BWS regarding the department’s programs, services, projects, issues, events, and other activities. These social media channels are designed to keep the public informed on what’s happening within the BWS and to communicate with the public at large regarding BWS business.

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the BWS’s social media sites is to discuss matters of public interest in and to the BWS, as identified and raised by the department. The BWS encourages the public to submit comments that are on topic, but Users are asked to address their comments to the specific topics discussed and observe the conduct guidelines included in this Policy. Users who submit comments to these sites agree to the terms and conditions of this Policy by virtue of such use.

Content on Social Media Platforms

Users should expect to see posts discussing topics such as:

  • Press releases and announcements relating to the BWS’s activities;
  • Photography and videography of events, meetings, ceremonies, special occasions, and more;
  • Live videos, which may include meetings, press conferences, or interviews with the Board of Directors, the BWS Manager and Chief Engineer, or other BWS personnel;
  • Shared posts of news alerts from the City and County of Honolulu;
  • Event and meeting notices;
  • Updates on water service for BWS customers;
  • General water conservation tips and information; and
  • Alerts pertaining to service issues or other emergencies related to Honolulu’s municipal water system.

Standards of Conduct

The BWS asks all commenters to be courteous and civil toward one another. The BWS will remove comments or conversation if content is unlawful or violates this Policy.

  • Limited Public Forum
    • The BWS’s social media accounts are created and maintained as limited public forums under caselaw pertaining to the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution. The Manager and Chief Engineer invites members of the public to view and provide comments or other engagement on our social media accounts in accordance with this Policy and all applicable laws.
  • Prohibited Content
    • The following classes of comments, and posts/comments containing the following, are prohibited on the BWS’s social media pages:
      • Obscenity;
      • Child pornography;
      • Incitement to imminent lawless action;
      • Speech presenting a grave and imminent threat;
      • Fighting words;
      • True threats;
      • Fraud;
      • Defamation (libel/slander);
      • Solicitations to commit, or speech integral to, criminal conduct;
      • Copyrighted material (if posted without the copyright holder’s consent);
      • Solicitation, promotion, or endorsement of specific commercial services, products, or entities;
      • Profanity and references to sex or excretory acts or functions, including abbreviations, slang terms, phonetic spellings, backwards or upside-down spellings, mirror images, spellings substituting numbers/spaces/dashes for letters, or emoji, images, or foreign words/phrases depicting the same;
      • Comments that refer or relate to individuals on the basis of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, or gender identity, except in the context of a policy proposal for the Board of Directors’ and/or Manager’s consideration, provided that commenters may self-identify using one or more of these categories;
      • Comments that refer or relate to genocide or any group that promotes violence towards others based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, or gender identity, except in the context of a policy proposal for the Board of Directors’ and/or Manager’s consideration;
      • The promotion, endorsement, derogation, of disapproval of a political campaign or candidate, provided that commenters may discuss positions/actions taken or not taken by Councilmembers, the Mayor, the Prosecutor, or other elected officials in their roles as elected officials;
      • Personally identifiable information or sensitive personal information that if released violates federal or state law;
      • Information that directly interferes or compromises ongoing investigations, litigation, public safety tactics, or the safety of public safety officers;
      • Confidential or exempt information in violation of federal or state law;
      • Comments that contain a hyperlink to any website other than those controlled by the City or another governmental entity. This will be done without regard to the viewpoint of the comment containing such a link or the content of the site to which the link redirects.
      • Information that compromises the public safety or security of the public or security systems;
      • Photos, videos, screenshots, JPGs, GIFs, graphics, animations, or similar imagery;
      • Links to any site or content posted by automatic software programs such as “bots”; and
      • Repetitive comments from the same User posted within a short period of time.

Posts that do not violate this Policy will be allowed, even if some might consider the posts to be offensive or insulting.

Hidden/Blocked Posts

If a User posts an item that violates this Policy and that is not automatically rejected based on the above-referenced filters, the following shall occur:

  • For a first violation, the post shall be hidden and, within twenty-four hours of the post being hidden, the User shall be notified of the violation via email or via the social media platform’s communication system. The User shall be provided with a copy of (or a link to) this Policy.
  • For a second violation occurring within six months of notification of a first violation, the post shall be hidden and, within twenty-four hours of the post being hidden, the User shall be notified of the violation via email or via the social media platform’s communication system. The User shall be provided with a copy of (or a link to) this Policy.
  • For a third violation occurring within six months of notification of a second violation, the User shall be blocked from the platform. Within twenty-four hours of the User being blocked, the User shall be notified of the violation via email or via the social media platform’s communication system. The User shall be notified that the User was blocked and the User shall be provided with a copy of (or a link to) this Policy. After thirty days, upon request by the User, the User shall be unblocked.
  • For a violation that occurs within six months of being reinstated after being blocked, the User shall be blocked from the platform for twelve months. Within twenty-four hours of the User being blocked, the User shall be notified of the violation via email or via the social media platform’s communication system. The User shall be notified that the User was blocked and the User shall be provided with a copy of (or a link to) this Policy. After twelve months, upon request by the User, the User shall be unblocked.
  • Except as provided in the previous paragraph, a violation that occurs six months or more after notification of a previous violation shall be considered a first violation.

The BWS shall also manually remove posts that fail to comply with this Policy or other applicable law.

The BWS may use filters provided by the social media platforms themselves and/or custom word/emoji blocks to hide or prohibit posts that fail to comply with this Policy or other applicable law. If the platforms have filters controllable by the BWS (as the “owner” of the site), the BWS shall select the filter(s) that most closely match this Policy; the BWS shall also monitor any posts blocked by the platforms’ filters and reinstate any post that complies with this Policy. The BWS shall also manually remove posts that fail to comply with this Policy or other applicable law.

Right to Appeal

If you (a User of the BWS’s social media) believe your post was improperly hidden or removed, please contact the BWS at contactus@hbws.org. You do not need to identify yourself in your e-mail. In your e-mail, please provide the platform (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, etc.), the post to which you were responding, and the entirety of your proposed post. The BWS understands that, when it comes to posts on social media, time is of the essence. If your post complies with this Policy, the BWS will act expeditiously to reinstate the post and will adjust any filters, to the extent possible, to not exclude such content in the future.

Disclaimers

Any comment posted by members of the public on the BWS’s social media or content sharing pages is the opinion of the poster only. Publication of a comment does not imply endorsement by the Manager or the BWS, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Manager or the BWS. Please be advised that comments may contain content that some may deem offensive.

All communications with the BWS are subject to Hawai‘i’s open records law.

Comments made on the BWS’s social media pages do not constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the BWS or any official thereof, and will not be regarded as a request for service or testimony. Nothing contained on the BWS’s social media pages shall constitute legal advice.

The BWS does not guarantee that social media comments are monitored regularly, and therefore, Users should not use this account to contact or provide notice to the BWS about dangerous conditions on public property or other dangerous situations. If a dangerous condition or situation exists, please call 9-1-1 and/or contact the Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department, Board of Water Supply, or other relevant City Department.

The BWS may post references or links to websites not owned or controlled by the BWS. The BWS is not responsible for content that appears on these websites and provide these links as a convenience only.

Following Back and Tagging

The BWS appreciates and recognizes those in the community who choose to follow the BWS on social media.

The BWS may follow or follow back various social media accounts; however, any such following does not constitute an endorsement of any referenced individuals, businesses, products, or organizations found on its social media pages. While anyone may tag the BWS in a social media post, tags that are unrelated to the purpose and topical scope of the page may be removed from the BWS’s social media sites.

Copyright Policy

Information and materials produced by the BWS and posted on these pages are BWS property. The BWS retains the copyrights to all text, graphic images, videography, photography and other content produced by the BWS.

Unless otherwise stated, a User may, without obligation to the BWS, view, copy, link to, or distribute information found here if for non-commercial use. Neither the Manager nor the BWS makes any warranty that information on this web page is free of copyright claims or other restrictions on free use. Commercial use is prohibited.

Definitions

“Comments” and “posts” include any digital content, information, links, images, videos, or any other form of communicative content posted in reply or response to a social media account operated by the BWS.

“Manager”, “Office of the Manager”, and “Office of the Manager and Chief Engineer” are used interchangeably, and includes the Manager and all staff within the Office of the Manager and Chief Engineer.

“Social media” means digital content created by us and communicated on platforms that allow sharing, commenting, and engagement from the public. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and LinkedIn.

“User” means a member of the public who views or interacts with one or more of the BWS’s social media accounts.

Construction and Severability

This Policy shall be interpreted and applied only to the extent permitted by law. If any provision of this Policy, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the Policy, or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

For more information about BWS on social media, please contact the BWS Communications Office at contactus@hbws.org.

Revised January 2026

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Updated: 01/05/2026

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