Social Media Policies

FEMA social media accounts are used to communicate information and materials about the agency’s mission, including disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery to stakeholders.

FEMA’s maintenance of social media accounts does not require us to review or moderate comments or information provided on these platforms by third parties.

We are not responsible or liable for any information provided by others.

FEMA's social media accounts should not be used for reporting emergencies. To report an emergency, call 911 or alert local authorities.

Commenting Policy

All comments posted on FEMA’s social media pages will be reviewed for appropriate content. We reserve the right to determine which comments are acceptable for our social media pages. We may review and remove comments that are:

  • Off topic or unrelated to FEMA’s mission and/or emergency services and information
  • Repetitive language copied and pasted by multiple users, or spam
  • Obscene or vulgar language
  • Personal attacks of any kind
  • Promote or discredit commercial services or products
  • Offensive terms that target a person or group based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion, or disability

FEMA is not responsible or liable for any information provided by third parties. In addition, we are not obligated to review or moderate comments by third parties.

Comments made on our social media accounts will also be subject to the policies of the specific site on which they are posted. Some social media sites moderate their comments with or without our knowledge.

We may respond to questions directed at us through social media comments when the question is relevant to our mission.

We do not collect or retain any comments or personally identifiable information from people commenting on the agency’s social media accounts. Comments are public forums and any information provided will be publicly available and based on the privacy policies of the specific social media site.

Personal Information

Please do not include personal details, including a FEMA case number, social security number, or any other information you do not want available to the general public. If you choose to post personal information, do so at your own risk. We reserve the right to remove any comments that contain personally identifiable information.

FEMA is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from any comments posted on its social media pages. Social media pages may not be used for to submit a claim, demand, complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process.

If you have specific questions regarding a FEMA program that involves details you do not wish to share publicly, please contact the program point of contact.

Imagery

Social media users may post their own imagery, including photos, videos, graphics, animations and illustrations, on FEMA’s social media pages. You may only upload imagery that you own the copyright for. By uploading imagery, you acknowledge that you own the copyright and grant FEMA a worldwide, non-exclusive license to display the photo on the respective social media site and to provide a copy of the imagery in paper or electronic format to any entity if required by Federal law.

We reserve the right to remove any imagery that is:

  • Unrelated to FEMA’s mission and/or emergency services and information
  • Obscene, vulgar, or otherwise deemed to be offensive
  • Promoting or discrediting commercial services or products
Last updated