Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Media Contacts:
DOUGLAS DOE
Oklahoma Office of State Finance
(405) 522-3963
CRYSTAL DREWNSKI
Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General
(405) 521-3921
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma State Chief Information Officer Alex Pettit and Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced today that Oklahoma has accepted the Facebook agreement to modify its terms and conditions to allow state and local government agencies to use the social media website. The new terms, facilitated through the National Association of Attorneys General and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, resolve a series of legal issues that were caused by the site’s standard terms of service agreement.
"Social computing technologies, like Facebook, are increasingly important to the way government interacts and conducts business with the public." Pettit said. "The state needs to continue to break down the barriers to public sector implementation, but in a way that meets the laws of Oklahoma and does not jeopardize the state's IT resources."
Facebook has modified portions of its terms of service agreement that all users must agree to in order to use the site. The multistate group, led by the Colorado and Washington Attorneys General offices, began working with Facebook nearly a year ago after discovering a series of issues public agencies encountered while trying to use the site. The new terms mirror a similar agreement the social media company reached with the federal government more than a year ago, which allowed 33 federal government agencies to connect with their constituents through Facebook.
“Facebook provides a tremendous venue for state agencies and their local counterparts to keep their constituents apprised of the great work they do,” Pruitt said. “We, and our partner agencies, look forward to using the site to stay in contact with the public.”
Facebook has specifically agreed to modify the provisions of its terms and conditions to:
The modifications will immediately apply to state and local government agencies already on Facebook.
Oklahoma was one of a number of states that participated in the NASCIO Social Media Workgroup and the NAAG task force, which began working with Facebook more than a year ago. Legal staff from the CIO’s office and attorneys general agencies in the states of Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington participated in the lengthy discussions. Others state involved were Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Washington. NASCIO expects the Facebook agreement will be used as a model going forward, as the NAAG and NASCIO groups continue efforts to produce similar models for other social media providers
About the Office of State Finance OSF is the Oklahoma state government agency that manages the state's information technology resources, the state's integrated financial and management information system and the state's portal system along with other fiscal and budgetary responsibilities. OSF is headed by the Director of State Finance. The State of Oklahoma’s Chief Information Officer oversees OSF's IT division.
About the Office of Attorney General The Office of Attorney General provides legal counsel and representation for state agencies and employees. The office also represents the interests of Oklahoma consumers, the state's natural resources and Oklahoma crime victims.
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For more information, visit http://www.ok.gov/cio/documents/FacebookTOSMediaRelease01112011.pdf