HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOARD STANDING COMMITTEES - 09112023 - Internal Ops Agenda PktMeeting Minutes
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Internal Operations Committee
Supervisor Candace Andersen, Chair
Supervisor Diane Burgis, Vice Chair
https://cccounty-us.zoom.us/j/85280600959
Call In: 888-278-0254 Conference code: 845965
11:00 AMMonday, September 11, 2023
Agenda Items: Items may be taken out of order based on the business of the day and
preference of the Committee.
1 Introductions
Chair Andersen called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m.
Also in attendance were:
Julie Enea, Call_in_user_1, Kristi Jourdan, Ashleigh Goddard, Jennifer Quallick, Alicia Nuchols,
Tish Gallegos, Todd Fitzsimmons, Glenn Kimball, Ted Asregadoo, Kim McCarl, Lissette Davis,
Tommy Gong, and Nathan Weibe.
District II Supervisor Candace Andersen and District III Supervisor
Diane Burgis
Present:
2 Public comment on any item under the jurisdiction of the Committee and not on this agenda (speakers
may be limited to two minutes).
An unidentified caller commented about the scheduling conflict between the IOC meeting and the
9/11 memorial service being held is Clayton . She said both were important and did not want to have
to choose between them . Chair Andersen invited the speaker to attend an evening memorial service
in Danville and Vice Chair Burgis advised that the Board of Supervisors also planned a memorial at
the Board meeting the following day.
This was received.
3 RECEIVE report and CONSIDER staff recommendations on possible TikTok application
ban on County devices and Social Media Policy amendments. (Kristi Jourdan, Director,
Office of Communications and Media)
Attachments:CCC_Social Media Policy_080323_Clean
IO_TikTok_080923
Kristi Jourdan presented the staff report, summarizing what the report would cover: the
TikTok application, artificial intelligence or AI generated content as well as responding
to miss and disinformation on our social media platforms, as directed by the Board of
Supervisors, and concluding with staff recommendations for the Committee’s discussion
and consideration.
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Internal Operations Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023
She reported that at least at least 37 states have taken some official action against
TikTok since 2020, either in the form of banning its use on government devices or filing
lawsuits. The concerns around TikTok security risks specifically have been prompted by
FBI comments and testimony. She described the FBI’s concerns, which are
summarized in the staff report.
Closer to home. California legislators are working on a broader ban that doesn't refer to
any specific platform, however, under which TikTok would be banned on State-owned
or State-issued devices in alignment with the federal government ban . She described the
ban criteria contained in the pending state legislation, which are summarized in the
staff report. She mentioned some of the legal challenges surrounding certain bans of
social media applications.
She reported on what other local government agencies are doing . She noted that
TikTok is not widely used by County departments and identified those departments that
currently use it and those that will need continuing access to it and the reasons therefor .
Tommy Gong explained that Elections uses TikTok to engage younger voters and
counteract mis and disinformation about elections . He said that Elections is taking the
precaution to utilize its TikTok account only on a cellular network and not via the
County’s Wi-Fi network. Kim McCarl reported that TikTok was a platform
recommended by its youth ambassadors, but Health currently has no TikTok accounts .
She would prefer not to do away with it altogether if a way could be found to address
security vulnerabilities .
Vice Chair Burgis emphasized the need for the County to begin focusing on its digital
hygiene (keeping County devices (such as phones, computers, and tablets)
well-organized and up to date with the latest updates and security patches). She said if
certain staff need continuing access to TikTok, then we should have some parameters
and mindfulness on the best way to enable that .
Julie Enea commented that County’s IT landscape is decentralized and the County is
not currently positioned to contend with these emerging issues, so the County will have
to devise solutions incrementally. At this juncture, the County is not organized to
centrally monitor individual social media applications used by County departments and
there are differing levels of capability among County departments to manage County
devices and applications.
Nathan Weibe commented that when the County is trying to block a malicious site or
questionable content, we can put a policy in place, but the actual implementation of the
blocking is done by information technology groups throughout County departments,
sometimes with or without tools to support that. He said that the County’s Information
Security Office can work with the departments to ensure that security is put in place
with enough flexibility so that departments with the business need can be granted, on a
case-by-case basis, the ability to still access the services necessary to conduct their
business. He was confident that DoIT can explore workarounds but had not yet had the
opportunity to conduct full due diligence on the question . He agreed to pass the
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Internal Operations Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023
question onto the DoIT technical team .
An unidentified caller commented that there are two Chinas: Communist China and
free China (Taiwan). She said that the Taiwanese are the most vulnerable victims of
these policies.
Chair Andersen concluded that a good path forward would be to develop guidelines and
training for those staff who have a legitimate business need for TikTok on what devices
and networks they may and may not use. She asked what a reasonable timeline might
be to develop specific guidelines around the limited use of otherwise prohibited
applications.
Julie could not predict a firm timeline and commented that the solution would likely
need to be customized to each department’s IT architecture . Chair Andersen stated that
law enforcement should be given priority as to the establishment of guidelines and
security protocols for continued access to blocked applications . It was thought that
independent cell phones or iPads on a separate Wi-Fi subscription outside of the
County’s network might be one solution .
With this direction, staff were directed to report back to the IOC and then to the BOS
with recommended guidelines for departments that have a priority business need to use
TikTok.
Kristi then discussed the problem of mis- and disinformation proliferated on the
County’s social media pages. During the August 1, 2023 regular meeting, the Board of
Supervisors discussed adding a recommended response to the county social media policy
to combat mis- or disinformation. Misinformation is simply false information.
Disinformation is the intentional spreading of misinformation . When composing a
response, Kristi suggested that staff strive to be supportive, educational, informative,
show compassion, supply just the facts, and point to existing approved information and
resources, while never responding to direct opinions or straight comments . Staff's
recommendation is to update the social media policy to include guidance on if or how to
respond to inaccurate or misleading public comments as well as fake or doctored images
and videos on County social media pages, and then bring the policy and guidelines back
to the full Board for approval.
In May, President Biden's administration met with the CEOs of four major AI
producing companies: Alphabet, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI, and those
companies are collaborating with the White House on a set of voluntary privacy and
security commitments, and those will be aligned with the Biden Administration's AI Bill
of Rights and risk management framework. The Office of Management and Budgets
expected to release guidance that will establish policies for federal agencies to follow in
adopting AI systems. This comes on the heels of a series of federal agencies, including
the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer
Protection Bureau, detailing their intent to monitor for potentially harmful AI use for
compliance with existing laws.
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Internal Operations Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023
Closer to home, California legislators are contemplating California AI legislation . Last
week Governor Newsom signed an executive order laying out how California's
measured approach will focus on shaping the future of ethical, transparent, and
trustworthy AI, while developing a deliberate and responsible process for evaluation and
deployment of AI within State government that focused on risk analysis, a procurement,
blueprint deployment and analysis, framework training, legislative engagement, and
ongoing evaluation of AI impacts with the evolving technology .
Kristi cited two examples of cities, Boston and San Jose, that have created a set of robust
interim guidelines for using AI. They encourage responsible use of the tool, but they
hold users accountable by stating that technology enables our work, but it does not
excuse our judgment nor our accountability . The guidelines are a placeholder for future
policies and standards. But the document encourages responsible experimentation,
much like what many of our departments are currently doing . They also offer an online
form to provide feedback as the technology continues to advance, and they provide
principles from many perspectives, including empowerment, inclusion, respect,
innovation and risk management, privacy and security and public purpose while
pushing for fact-checking and review of all AI generated content, especially if it's used
in public communication or decision making . The cities also offer “do's and don'ts”
that include always protecting confidential information and checking for plagiarism .
The guidelines cover images, audio, and video .
Staff’s recommendation on AI is for the Committee to direct staff to draft a set of
interim guidelines like San Jose and Boston to provide departments with some
guardrails for AI use, and direct staff to continue researching reliable ways to identify
AI-generated content posted within public comments on county website and social
media pages, and then bring back updates to the Committee as appropriate.
An unidentified speaker complained that the agenda language didn’t indicate that AI or
misinformation on social media would be topics of discussion . She was concerned
about the government deciding what constitutes misinformation or not . She wants the
government to focus on external threats and not censor citizen social media postings .
Chair Andersen reiterated the posted agenda language, which encompassed the
discussion topics.
The Committee supported staff’s recommendations and requested staff to draft interim
guidelines and security protocols related to both a TikTok ban, AI, and handling
misinformation pertaining to County services, and report those back to the IOC .
The Committee supported staff’s recommendations and requested staff to draft
interim guidelines and security protocols related to both a TikTok ban, AI, and
handling misinformation pertaining to County services, and report those back to the
IOC.
Chair Candace Andersen and Vice Chair Diane BurgisAye:
Result:Passed
4 The October 9, 2023 meeting is canceled. A special meeting is scheduled on October 2, 2023 at 1:00
p.m.
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Internal Operations Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023
Confirmed as listed.
This was read into the record.
5 Adjourn
Chair Andersen adjourned the meeting at 11:50 a.m.
General Information
This meeting provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities planning to attend a the
meetings. Contact the staff person listed below at least 72 hours before the meeting. Any disclosable public
records related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by the County to a majority
of members of the Committee less than 96 hours prior to that meeting are available for public inspection at 1025
Escobar St., 4th Floor, Martinez, during normal business hours. Staff reports related to items on the agenda are
also accessible on line at www.co.contra-costa.ca.us.
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