Social Media Archiving

Organizations, government agencies and public entities around the world are required to save records of their social media interactions in order to comply with public records laws. As such, archiving your social media communications is essential in meeting these legal requirements. Get ahead of the game now by utilizing an easy-to-use archiving system for your online platforms. Begin archiving today and stay compliant with public records laws!

5 Reasons Why Social Media Archiving is Crucial

1. Social Media Public Record

Every government agency, school system and law enforcement organization in the USA must comply with open record laws, which means social media postings constitute public records. As such, it's essential that relevant entities keep track of all social media content by archiving it correctly.

2. Comments are Critical

Public records laws mandate the preservation of social media content, generated by both yourself and your constituents, as part of meeting records requests. It is therefore critical to have an effective system in place for creating, organizing and monitoring comments made on all platforms.

3. Social Media Networks Are Not Reliable for Record Keeping

Businesses must understand that they cannot rely solely on social media networks to provide records. From a legal perspective, it is important to note that social media networks have no obligation to retain records and are not subject to public records laws. Therefore, businesses should make sure to store their own records for any digital interactions via other secure internal storage solutions.

4. Taking Screenshots Does Not Meet Compliance Requirements

Manual methods of capturing and searching records can be time-consuming and ineffective, especially in court proceedings. Additionally, there could be discrepancies in how often the records are captured, hidden or deleted content that goes unnoticed, or a lack of metadata to prove record authenticity which can all pose significant risks.

5. You are legally required to Produce records

Organizations are bound by law to produce social media content should a public records request be made. To guarantee full compliance with legal standards, businesses must have an appropriate system in place which retrieves all posted content and associated meta-data. Failing to meet this requirement could lead to costly fines, or other negative repercussions.

Social Media Archiving Laws

The legal requirements for retaining social media records in the public sector

Public entities are obligated to fulfill FOIA or Open Records requests for social media and website content in accordance with public record laws. Although the public record laws differ among the 50 United States, social media is considered a public record in all states. To comply with regulatory standards, precise recordkeeping necessitates the preservation of all posts, metadata, comments (even if they have been modified or deleted), and original content as it was originally posted across all social media channels and website pages.

Social Media and Public Records Responsibilities

We simplify the process of complying with these regulations, which could otherwise result in significant expenses and countless hours of work. However, managing your online presence need not be complicated.

By automatically capturing and storing your data in a single secure location with active social media archiving, you can ensure that you never overlook a post or comment, and can quickly locate and respond to records requests in the appropriate formats.

Dr. Social Media can assist you in reducing public records expenditures and enhancing the openness of your organization.Refer to the Social Media Records Laws in your state below.

All 50 United States Consider Social Media as Public Record
Adherence to Open Records Laws Required for Public Agencies

State’s Public Records and FOIA Social Media Archiving Laws

Explore your state's public records and social media record retention laws today by utilizing the interactive map to select your location.

Social Media Archiving is Vital for Maintaining Complete Records
To guarantee comprehensive social media records and effectively fulfill records requests, social media archiving is the only solution.

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