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Social Media

Make sure you're adhering to social media policies

Social media can be a tricky area to navigate because of privacy, free speech and copyright issues. When in doubt, contact the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel (OVPGC).

IU Studios is available to consult or advise on social media issues. If you have questions, contact Clayton Norman, Social Media and Digital Marketing Leader, at .

Community Conduct

Indiana University is committed to celebrating and communicating about our campuses through social media. We encourage our followers to interact freely with the content that we post on official IU social media pages.

Comments posted on social media pages representing Indiana University will never be removed based on an expressed opinion. However, Indiana University will not tolerate comments, posts, or activities that are unlawful, violent, defamatory, or obscene. Indiana University reserves the right to delete or remove any post at any time to the University’s sole discretion. Indiana University also reserves the right to report these types of posts to the social media platform on which it was posted or the appropriate authorities within the university.

The IU community strives to ensure a safe, legal, and effective use of its social media platforms. User-generated posts will be removed (when possible) when the content:

  • Appears to be “spam” or comments generated by “social bots”
  • Contains obscenity
  • Contains offensive language that targets protected classes
  • Is threatening, harassing, predatory, or discriminatory
  • Contains sensitive personal information or could reasonably compromise individual or public safety
  • Promotes violence or illegal activities
  • Advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual
  • Violates the intellectual property rights of any party, including copyright or trademark infringement
  • Includes confidential information about Indiana University, its faculty, staff, or students, including confidential information as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Regulations

These guidelines will be monitored and updated as technology continues to evolve.

Platform Conduct

Indiana University is utilizing social media platforms that are owned and operated by companies with their own policies and standards of use. You can view each platform’s standards below.

Indiana University does not control these guidelines nor does it guarantee a user's personal or private information is fully secured or invulnerable to identity theft, computer viruses, or other malware that may cause harm to a computer system or network. In addition, the university is not responsible for comments or posts placed on the university’s sites by visitors.

Personal Conduct

Indiana University staff, faculty, and students are free to use personal social media accounts at their own discretion. However, the IU community is held to a high standard of conduct that is reflective of our values as an institution.

Please refer to the following documents to ensure your online presence is in line with our community standards:

Employee conduct: https://go.iu.edu/3juS
Student conduct: https://go.iu.edu/3juR

If you believe an IU community member has used social media to negatively impact you or someone you know, please fill out an official report.

Report student conduct: https://go.iu.edu/3pVg
Report employee conduct: https://go.iu.edu/3pVh

Administrator Conduct

All Indiana University students, faculty, and staff that are managing an IU-affiliated social media account must follow the standards outlined below. An IU-affiliated account is defined as an account representing an Indiana University campus, school, department, program, office, or unit that is managed by an employee, student, or staff member. No official IU-affiliated account can be used to:

  • Make personal monetary gain
  • Stalk, harass, or threaten
  • Illegally discriminate
  • Advocate or cause harm to university property
  • Intentionally disrupt university activities
  • Publish confidential information about Indiana University, its faculty, staff, or students

Administrators should use the guidelines listed under Community Conduct to determine if a comment can be removed from an IU-affiliated social media page. However, that administrator must contact the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel (OVPGC) before blocking an account.

All university administrators are expected to uphold the Indiana University Code of Conduct. You may not post any intentionally malicious, defamatory, degrading, or hateful material. This does not include frank discussions, criticisms or opinions, which are protected under free speech.

Policies you need to know