Social media terms of use

We use social media to share information about education in New Zealand, enable conversations and feedback and to be responsive to the views and needs of New Zealanders. These terms of use apply to all our social media accounts.

What we share on social media

We use social media to provide our followers with regular updates, including:

  • news and information about the New Zealand education system
  • information about our services and activities
  • invitations to provide feedback on specific issues
  • emergency information, such as school closures during bad weather
  • information about jobs.

Social media channels

We invite you to connect with us on:

We may operate other social media channels for a specific purpose or audience at different times.

Acceptable use

We reserve the right to remove content posted to our social media accounts that:

  • is deemed offensive, abusive or obscene
  • isn't relevant
  • is potentially libellous
  • constitutes unlawful use of imagery that violates copyright or breach of a licence agreement
  • links to sites that may be obscene, abusive, offensive or indecent
  • has political bias
  • constitutes spam
  • refers to any commercial activity, including advertising.

We may report, block, or ban anyone who posts the above content or comments, or who breaches the terms of use of the relevant social media platform:

Engagement

We love hearing your thoughts and ideas. But, we might not be able to respond to every comment, post or direct message.

If you're having trouble reaching us on social media, you can email us or get in touch with one of our local offices.

Email: enquiries.national@education.govt.nz

Local Ministry offices

Monitoring

Our social media accounts are monitored between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday and periodically in the evenings and on weekends and public holidays. 

Our political neutrality

The Ministry doesn't pick sides in politics. We don't support any specific political party and we won't use our social media to promote any party’s political messages.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that may compromise our political neutrality.

Connections and endorsement

The Ministry may choose to 'follow', 'like' or otherwise establish connections with others on social media.

We do this for a number of reasons including maintaining contact with what social media users are saying, sharing content or sending direct messages. 

Once we’ve 'liked' or 'followed' someone, we usually don’t unfollow them without a good reason. Examples of when we might unfollow someone include, if there's risk to our reputation and credibility, or if our obligations to maintain political neutrality are compromised. We'll carefully consider each case on its own merits.

Endorsement

Creating a social media connection with someone doesn't mean the Ministry endorses them regardless of the terms used by social media providers such as 'follow' or 'like'.

We don't take sides. We stay connected with people and groups who might not agree with us. However, we aren't responsible for the content they post.

Use of social media by Ministry staff

Ministry of Education staff are free to use social media in their personal lives. The opinions or views they expressed are their own, not ours.

Privacy

Legal and privacy

Copyright

Crown copyright

Unless otherwise indicated, the material on our social media accounts is protected by Crown copyright. You can reproduce this Crown copyright material free of charge without further permission, as long as you:

  • reproduce the material accurately
  • don't use the material in a derogatory manner or a misleading context
  • don't sell or distribute any material on a commercial basis
  • acknowledge the source and copyright status of the material.

If you wish to reproduce images, contact copyright.permissions@education.govt.nz.

Note that this licence doesn't apply to logos, emblems, trademarks or design elements. These specific items may not be re-used without express permission.

Copyright of third parties

Our social media accounts may provide links to other websites or embed material which may contain information that is the copyright of third parties and subject to restrictions on use or reproduction.

You must get permission from the copyright owner to use:

  • copyrighted materials from other websites, or
  • material on our social media pages that is protected by the copyright of a third party.

The Ministry of Education can't give you this permission.

More information about copyright:

Copyright

Licence

By submitting, posting or displaying your content on any of our social media accounts, you grant the Ministry of Education a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use that content.

Disclaimer

The contents of our social media accounts are intended for informational purposes only. The Ministry of Education shall in no event accept any liability for loss or damage suffered by any person or body due to information provided on these sites or linked sites.

Social media sites may occasionally become unavailable. The Ministry of Education can't accept responsibility for lack of service due to downtime.

The information on our social media sites and all government web sites is provided on the basis that persons accessing the website undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content.

Contact

Email social.media@education.govt.nz if you have any questions or comments about our social media accounts or these terms of use.

Updates to social media terms of use

These terms of use will be reviewed every 12 months to ensure they are fit for purpose. They may be updated at any time without notice.

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