Council frowns on site By Bridget Brady

CASEY council will not be accepting friend requests on Facebook because the move poses privacy and legal risks.
Last month councillors asked for a report on the council’s possible use of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to communicate with residents.
The council already has a ‘controlled’ official Twitter account, with more than 260 followers, it uses to post news and details on upcoming events. The council is able to review and approve the content posted on its Twitter account.
And a report by communications manager Ros Weadman noted the council’s use of social media should remain as it was.
The council sought independent legal and insurance advice that confirmed there were defamation, confidentiality, privacy and copyright risks associated with extending the council’s use of social media.
“It is recommended that the City of Casey only uses social media to the extent of creating official City of Casey accounts, rather than allowing individuals to create accounts that would leave council potentially liable for a range of legal and insurance issues,” the report noted.
Casey councillor Wayne Smith said he accepted the report, saying the questions had to be asked.
“I accept that there are those risks,” he said.
Cr Smith, who is a secondary school teacher in Casey, noted an example of identity fraud he had heard about at a Gippsland school.
Students had created a Facebook account, pretending to be one of their teachers and used it as means of communicating with their parents about their progress at school.
Much of the feedback was positive, and it was not until one of the parents commented to the teacher about how wonderful their Facebook account was that the students’ plan came unstuck.
Civic leaders voted that the council continue to monitor the developments of such technologies and, where appropriate, recommend their use.