The agenda for plenary sessions, committee meetings, and other legislative activities, especially those whose topics are of greater public interest, must be made public in advance.

SECOM must inform the public when its products are the result of a partnership, agreement or sponsorship.

Information management

At SECOM, information management routines are everyone's responsibility and should be treated as a system, not as the specific responsibility of a sector.

The products produced or received as a result of the activities of SECOM's areas must be recorded on a storage media that makes it possible to archive and retrieve them in the future. These products, regardless of their medium, are considered public documents and, consequently, public heritage and must be managed in accordance with article 216, paragraph 2 of the Federal Constitution and Law No. 8159 of 1991.

SECOM's management of documents must guarantee its organization, through the use of classification codes, following the standardization adopted by the Senate.

In addition, it must include the control of what should be eliminated or preserved. SECOM's areas must comply with filing and disposal deadlines, which must form part of a selection and disposal policy. The deadlines must be proposed by SECOM itself, approved by the Senate's Standing Committee on Documents and included in the Senate's Temporal Table of Documents.

SECOM must adopt a set of metadata to identify and retrieve any product for use in archival description.

The organization of files on common networks and intranet drives in SECOM's media and services must reflect the functions performed by the unit and consider products and processes.

The manifestations received from the external public and the respective responses should be archived for possible consultations or proof of the service provided.

Audiovisual identity

The audiovisual identity of SECOM's products and services must be produced and applied in accordance with the Federal Senate's Visual Identity Manual.

Products and services intended for external audiences must have their own audiovisual identity, but with cohesion between SECOM's areas to facilitate recognition of the institution and assimilation of content.

Administrative units should not have their own visual identity, in accordance with the Federal Senate's Visual Identity Manual.

Products and services with similar objectives should follow the same audiovisual identity standard, taking into account the communication objectives and the technical characteristics of the media.

Changes to the audiovisual identity of SECOM's products and services must be preceded by planning that considers the need and feasibility.

The creation of new projects or products should take into account SECOM's audiovisual identity archive as a research tool.

Integration

SECOM's areas must act in an integrated and synergistic manner, with the aim of rationalizing resources and avoiding duplication of work.

In order for both news coverage and institutional actions to reflect integration, mechanisms must be in place to ensure effective communication between the various areas, common orientation, joint planning of activities and complementary and supplementary action.

Actions that are characterized as integration must be gathered in the Agenda and Production Center with the respective guidelines for joint or shared action.

When defining responsibilities for products or services, whether they are routine or part of new projects, the expertise of each area of SECOM must be taken into account. No product or service should be created without the input of the area of the Secretariat with expertise in the subject.

Any new product or service created by SECOM's areas must first be authorized by the Secretariat's management and then presented at a meeting of directors.

Sound and image capture, on any medium, must be of a quality compatible with the technical requirements of each media.

SECOM areas must adopt forms and working hours that favor integration, respecting the process flow and the specificities of each sector.

Work involving more than one area of the Secretariat must follow an integrated production flow.

SECOM should encourage the work of multimedia professionals in its vehicles, characterized by the ability to work in different media and produce content in multiple formats. To this aim, a way of working that is in line with conventional routines must be adopted, as well as a training program.

Social media

SECOM's areas should consider joining social media platforms on the internet.

SECOM's communication on social networks must be guided by an annual strategic plan, to be drawn up jointly by the secretariats that manage profiles on the networks, taking into account the secretariats' annual planning, the material and human resources available, and the potential of each platform. The document must establish for each platform: the content planning, the distribution of activities among the teams, the visual identity, and the criteria for publication, interactivity, monitoring, creation, management, and closure of profiles. The annual strategic plan should be published and updated in the Routines section of the manual.

The actions of social media operators must follow the standard defined in the Social Media Use Policy and the specific determinations for each area of the Social Communication Secretariat.

The purpose of the social networks managed by SECOM is to broaden dialogue with society and publicize the legislative and institutional work of the House and SECOM's products.

Social media should be used to:

• disseminate the programs and news stories produced by SECOM's media;

• publish news coverage of the Senate's legislative and institutional activities;

• publicize the Senate's institutional campaigns, programs and services;

• encourage citizen participation by opening up channels to dialog with society;

• publicize actions to promote the Senate's image;

• monitor the presence of the Senate and legislative issues on social media.

Profile coordinators and social media operators must keep a close eye on the emergence of new platforms, in order to guarantee the domains of the profiles of SECOM's areas and media, even if there is no activity on that network.

The profiles of the various areas will seek interactivity, either reactively, by responding to messages directed to the profile, or proactively, by identifying mentions of the Senate or legislative issues related to the House.

Sharing posts from other Senate profiles is allowed and can be used as a communication strategy according to the profile's planning, as long as it follows SECOM's editorial line. Shared content must relate to the content of the profile.

SECOM must make its policies clear on the internet and social media. Each area must maintain a document setting out its usage policy and publish it on the social media pages. The use policy of each area must have common general rules and take into account the specificities of each area in line with the guidelines established in this manual.

When replying to users, it should preferably be in the form chosen by the person who sent the message: public or private.

SECOM's areas should adopt a single database of frequent replies, constantly updated, to facilitate and standardize work and avoid errors.

There is no maximum number of posts per day, but it is recommended that the profiles of news outlets have at least one post on working days, showing that the account is active.

Account or profile closures must be communicated to the public in advance. Alternative forms of contact should also be offered.

Social media coordinators and operators must receive training and undertake to comply with and enforce the guidelines set out in this Communication Manual, in the Social Media Use Policy and in the planning drawn up for the profile in which they carry out their activities.

The strategic planning should foresee the types of content that should be covered or avoided in each SECOM profile.

It is not allowed to publish opinions, value judgments, subjects unrelated to the profile, offenses or threats.

Posted content must be in accordance with this Communication Manual, especially the principles and other guidelines.

Social networks must be constantly monitored, based on metrics and quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results, and recorded in reports shared between areas.

SECOM does not approve, endorse, declare or guarantee the integrity, veracity, accuracy or reliability of any message, manifestation or comment published by a user, nor does it endorse opinions expressed on their social media profiles.

Any violation of usage policies, legislation, and constitutional rules that is not identified by SECOM can be reported to the Federal Senate Ombudsman's Office for action.

Quality standards

It is a SECOM permanent objective to strive for excellence in its professionals and products.

In order to achieve the quality standard considered ideal, SECOM's Communication Manual must be complied with.

Critical analysis of the activities carried out and the products offered must be encouraged and systematized in order to allow for collective learning and constant improvement.

SECOM's areas must draw up and periodically publish productivity reports detailing their activities in quantitative and qualitative terms.

The monitoring of the proper application of the provisions of this manual and the necessary updates are the responsibility of the Quality Department, specially created for this purpose with a representative from each area of the Social Communication Secretariat.

Quality of information

At SECOM, the quality of information, a basic rule for combating disinformation, must be characterized by clarity, correctness, plurality, and completeness, regardless of the formats and content adopted.

All media must ensure that their information is rigorously investigated. Data and facts cannot be created or distorted.

SECOM's professionals must always be attentive to the correctness of the information they receive. Preference should be given to official sources. They should always cite the source of opinions and information that have not been officially confirmed. Numbers and data should be checked and, if in doubt, consult the Reference Guide of this manual.

Journalistic texts must:

• contain objective information, without interpretations or value judgments, so as to provide the necessary elements for citizens to analyze and form their own opinions;

• be produced in language accessible to different audiences;

• be produced and disseminated quickly;

• consider a plural and balanced dissemination of the various issues under debate in the National Congress.

All the professionals involved in drafting, editing, proofreading, and publishing the texts are responsible, at each stage of production, for ensuring that the material complies with the writing and style standards and formats set out in this manual.

Any errors in material released by SECOM should be corrected as soon as they are confirmed and technically possible. Corrections should encourage the revision of processes, where necessary, to avoid similar occurrences in the future. The errata must be produced and published in accordance with the accessory rule.

The work of SECOM's areas must not favor any political party, parliamentary bloc, leadership, senator, deputy or authority. The exception is coverage of the official agenda of the President of the Senate.

Cases in which news involving social and human dramas have repercussions in the Senate must be dealt with without sensationalism and with respect for human dignity, human rights, and current legislation. The focus in these cases should be on the debates and legislative decisions on the subject.

SECOM's products must not contain any information that has a commercial connotation, except in the following cases:

• when there is a formal contract with the Senate;

• when the marketing has an institutional nature, or is carried out by the Federal Senate itself, as in the case of products sold by Technical Editions;

• when the company is mentioned in parliamentary activity, for example, as a participant in a public hearing or in the investigation of Parliamentary Committees of Investigation;

• when it involves sponsorship or support for an audiovisual work and is included in the credits and cards, as an integral part of the work financed by requests for proposals or cultural incentive laws;

• when the quote is intended for cultural dissemination.

It is forbidden to sell space in SECOM's media.

Press-releases can be an important source of information for the coverage, supporting the preparation of news stories. However, they should not be published in their entirety or in their original format, even if prepared by sectors of the Senate, or even by some area of the Social Communication Secretariat, unless they are identified in this way and the source is cited. In SECOM's media, information from releases must be adjusted to the standards of this manual for publication.

Archived material must be clearly identified as such.

The aim of the technical edition is to make it easier for citizens to understand the information. However, it cannot modify the content of the statements.

The political positions of SECOM's professionals should not influence the coverage or writing of news stories. The edition cannot reflect a position in favor of or against any political tendency.

When publicizing opinion polls, the source, method, scope, target audience, period and, where applicable, the requester must be informed, considering the characteristics of each media.

SECOM must define precise guidelines for action during each electoral period, establishing how the legislation in force must be adopted.

SECOM must be committed to adapting information content to the various segments of the public, whether lay or specialized, adopting different formats, languages, and approaches, including accessibility, with a view to effective communication.

All material from SECOM must respect the current grammatical norms of the Portuguese.

Relationship with the public

SECOM must establish forms of contact with the public and publicize them using the tools at its disposal.

SECOM's areas must be committed to respond to the demands of any of the Senate's publics, quickly, clearly and cordially.

Requests that cannot be fulfilled must receive an official notice from the area explicitly explaining to the interested party the reasons for the impediment, including an optional way for the user to find a solution to the request.

Offensive statements containing bad language should not be replied to.

Comments or manifestations containing threats should, once identified, be immediately directed to the Legislative Police Secretariat of the Federal Senate.

SECOM must be committed to serving citizens primarily through the communication tool they have chosen.

The different types of public should receive the same attention when it comes to service. No segment should be privileged to the detriment of others.

Priority should be given to replying to disputes or requests to correct information released by SECOM.

SECOM must be guided by the search for a unified discourse. Citizens should receive the same information content, albeit in different formats and by different means, regardless of the area they come into contact with.

SECOM must permanently improve the mechanisms for interaction with society, maintaining spaces that allow citizens to participate directly, either individually or in organized groups.

Interaction with the public must be based on the principle of integrated action by all SECOM's areas, be it for the production of content, the adoption of dissemination tools or the offer of products and services. Guidance for this integrated action should come from the Journalism Department.

Requests from external press should be sent to SECOM's Press Office, which is responsible for the interlocution on matters of institutional, legislative, administrative, and social communication nature in the Senate.

Social responsibility

The use of SECOM's material and human resources must follow the principle of efficiency in public administration.

The way SECOM works and its products must be based on the principle of promoting ethical, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable practices.

SECOM's products and services must be secular in nature.

The training of SECOM's professionals should be encouraged.

Channels should be maintained and publicized to receive suggestions from SECOM's professionals aimed at improving routines and the working environment.

Contracts and partnerships must not serve private interests, cause harm to the public administration, and disrespect the rights or compromise the working conditions of outsourced employees.

The use of SECOM's structure, such as human resources, equipment, and facilities, must be in line with the objectives of the Secretariat.

SECOM should promote and encourage partnerships with other legislative communication systems, especially that of the Chamber of Deputies, to rationalize the use of resources and enable the exchange of experiences.

Issues related to copyright of all content published by SECOM should be included in a separate guide.

The content produced, broadcast and distributed by SECOM should preferably be produced by the Secretariat's own workforce and with its own resources.

When designing products, SECOM should aim to reach different types of audiences, according to the communication objectives. To do this, it must adopt mechanisms that guarantee accessibility to the content.

SECOM's areas do not publish photos, images, illustrations or audio that violate human dignity, damage the image of the institution or exploit or distort personal characteristics.

SECOM must develop specific journalistic and institutional content to combat disinformation, as well as fact-checking information about the Federal Senate and clarifying and guiding citizens with the aim of recognizing and preventing the spread of false or inaccurate news, in line with its mission.