Facebook, Twitter raise issues for Tampa officials

Mayor Pam Iorio has a Facebook page. So do council members Tom Scott and Linda Saul-Sena. And the city just started "tweeting" information to its citizens.

Increasingly, elected officials are relying on social networking Web sites to reach out to constituents, disseminate information and discuss the affairs of local government.

But engaging the public in cyberspace raises legal issues, Tampa officials are learning.

In a memo to council members, City Attorney Chip Fletcher cautioned that the use of these sites for city business is covered by Florida's open meeting and records laws.

That means that if someone posts information on a council member's Facebook page about a project, Fletcher wrote, and another council member posts a comment on it, it would be a dialogue outside a public meeting that could violate the Sunshine Law.

Another concern, Fletcher said, is the issue of public records. Any information related to city business that is posted on these sites must be saved and archived, he said.

"This requirement is the same as would be required for e-mail or any other form of electronic communication used to conduct city business," Fletcher wrote.

Some government agencies in other states have banned their employees from using the networks on the job for any purposes, citing, among other things, possible security risks.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a legal opinion in April saying the use of social networking sites for government business is covered by the state's open meeting and records laws.

The opinion was requested by the Coral Springs City Commission, which was concerned about using a Facebook page to communicate with residents.

"While there would not appear to be a prohibition against a board or commission member posting a comment on the city's Facebook page, members of the board or commission must not engage in an exchange or discussion of matters that foreseeably will come before the board or commission for official action," McCollum wrote.