Social Media Community Guidelines

This page outlines how the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) uses social media to support public engagement and share information about our mission and work.

SURF's use of social media

The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), owned and operated by the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, uses social media to communicate with the public about, and support awareness and understanding of, our scientific research, facility operations, education and outreach programs, and community engagement.

SURF’s use of social media aligns with the principles of transparency, public participation, and collaboration, and supports our mission to advance world-class science and inspire learning across generations.

SURF maintains official accounts on social media platforms, including, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Vimeo. We encourage the public to engage with our content and participate in respectful discussions related to our work.

Comment policy

Comments published on SURF’s social media platforms are public. If you wish to communicate with SURF in a private or official capacity, or have a question that requires a direct response, please do not use social media for that purpose. Instead, visit our website for appropriate contact information.

Communications made through social media do not constitute legal or official notice to SURF.

To help ensure that our social media platforms remain welcoming, informative, and professional, SURF monitors public comments and reserves the right to remove content that violates the following guidelines.

SURF may remove, without notice, comments that include:

  • Abusive, vulgar, offensive, threatening, or harassing language; personal attacks; unsupported accusations; defamatory statements; or language that targets individuals or groups.
  • Personally identifiable information (PII), including information that could be used to identify an individual, such as home addresses, phone numbers, or other private details.
  • Content related to confidential, privileged, proprietary, or security-sensitive matters, including internal operations or personnel issues.
  • Spam, repetitive content, or comments that are clearly off topic. Gratuitous or irrelevant links may be treated as spam.
  • Advertising, solicitations, commercial endorsements, or promotion of products or services.
  • Political campaigning, lobbying, or electioneering.
  • Content that infringes on intellectual property rights or that the commenter does not have the legal right to post.

SURF does not edit user comments. Comments that violate this policy will be removed in their entirety.

SURF reserves the right to restrict or block users who violate this comment policy.

Social media platforms operate continuously, while SURF moderation typically occurs during normal business hours. Content that violates these guidelines may not be removed immediately, but action will be taken as soon as reasonably possible.

Copyright

Images and videos on SURF's social media sites, other than those credited to SURF, may be subject to copyright. Please do not use these without permission from the copyright holders.

For copyright inquiries, contact the Communications Office.

Accessibility

SURF is committed to making our communications accessible to all members of the public. If you encounter accessibility barriers related to content on our social media platforms, please contact the Communications Office for assistance.

Privacy

SURF’s website privacy policy applies to content hosted on the SURF website, but does not apply to external social media platforms. These platforms maintain their own privacy policies, and users are encouraged to review them directly. Links to the privacy policies of our social media platforms are as follows: 

General disclaimer

Comments and content posted by members of the public on SURF’s social media platforms represent the views of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the views of SURF.

Links to third-party websites or content are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement by SURF or the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority.