Social Media & Laptop Policy

Social Media:

1. Introduction

Corsenside Parish Council recognises that the internet provides an opportunity for councillors and parishioners to share information and participate in discussions using a wide variety of social media. Councillors and employees [the Clerk] may use social media as part of their Parish Council role and may also use it in a private capacity outside of Parish Council business.

Councillors’ and employees’ use of social media in both a personal and business capacity can present risks to our confidential information and reputation and can jeopardise our compliance with legal obligations. To minimise these risks, we expect councillors and employees to adhere to this policy.

The purpose of this policy is to assist councillors and employees by providing clear guidance about acceptable behaviour on social media both for and beyond Parish Council business.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all councillors and employees of the Parish Council.

This policy applies to the use of social media for both Parish Council and personal purposes. It applies whether the social media is accessed using Parish Council or personal IT devices.

3. Definitions

Social media is any type of interactive online media that allows parties to communicate instantly with others or share data in a public forum. This includes but is not limited to platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, internet newsgroups and chat rooms. Social media also covers image-sharing platforms, such as YouTube and Flickr, and publicly accessible online blogs and videos.

As social media platforms are constantly evolving, this policy refers to the examples listed and any new social media that is developed in the future.

The policy excludes use of direct email.

4. Using social media in the name of Corsenside Parish Council

All posts on behalf of the Parish Council must go via agreed councillors, seeking advice from the Clerk as necessary.

Councillors’ authority to post will be withdrawn during a defined period before local council elections in order to comply with legislation (Purdah). 

Councillors should also be aware that the Electoral Commission requires that candidates provide a return of expenditure on any form of advertising or campaign literature which includes web advertising on their personal social media accounts. Full guidance for candidates can be found at www.electoralcommission.org.uk  

5. Personal Safety and privacy

Councillors and employees need to be aware that information they post on their personal social media profile can make them identifiable to residents and service users, as well as people they know in a private capacity.

Sites such as Facebook are in the public domain, and personal profile details can be seen by anyone, even if users have their privacy settings on the highest level. If a user’s profile is linked to other sites, any changes to their profile will be updated there too.

Councillors and employees who have set their privacy level to the maximum can have their privacy compromised by ‘friends’ who may not have set their security to the same standard.

6. Key principles

Employees and councillors must not:

• use the Cllr or Councillor title on personal social media
• present personal opinions as those of the Parish Council
• bring the Parish Council into disrepute or cause embarrassment, including through content posted in a personal capacity
• post content that is contrary to or undermines the democratic decisions of the Parish Council
• disclose commercially sensitive, personal private or confidential information. (If you are unsure whether the information you wish to share falls within one of these categories, you should discuss this with the Clerk.)
• post comments on councillors or employees without their prior approval
• upload, post or forward any content belonging to a third party unless you have that third party's consent. This includes use of an individual’s name without written permission to do so, or publishing photographs or videos of minors without parental permission
• post any information that infringes copyright of others including any link to a third-party website without checking that any terms and conditions of that website permit you to link to it
• post, forward or link to controversial or potentially inflammatory remarks or engage in personal attacks, online fights and hostile communications as this may constitute bullying or harassment and will bring the Parish Council into disrepute
• conduct any online activity that is against regulation or law, e.g. may be deemed libellous or that constitutes a criminal offence.

Councillors must avoid posting views in advance of a decision to be debated by the Council or a Committee meeting, which may constitute predetermination or bias. The Localism Act 2011 states that councillors must not have “had or appeared to have had a closed mind (to any extent) when making the decision”.

Examples of good practice

• Be honest and open but be mindful of the impact your contribution might make to people’s perceptions of the Parish Council.
• Don't escalate heated discussions; try to be conciliatory, respectful and quote facts to lower the temperature and correct misrepresentations.
• Consider others’ privacy and avoid discussing topics that may be inflammatory, e.g., politics and religion.
• Offer routes to enable resolution of concerns and complaints, e.g., how to report to Northumberland County Council and other statutory bodies.

The above examples are not a definitive list but are examples to illustrate what misuse and good practice may look like.

7. Addressing allegations of misuse

Any councillor or employee who feels that they have been harassed or bullied or who is offended by material posted on or uploaded to a social media site by a councillor or employee should inform the Clerk or Chair of the Parish Council who should ensure that all complaints are dealt with consistently and fairly.

For councillors, complaints will be dealt with following the Council’s Complaints Policy, with complaints concerning the councillor’s conduct being referred to the Northumberland County Council Monitoring Officer.

For employees, complaints will be dealt with following the Council’s Disciplinary Procedure.

Acceptable use of the Clerks Laptop:

This policy has been put in place in order to reduce the likelihood of a virus attacking the Councils laptop & to reduce the additional risks of breaches of confidentiality, copyright, data protection legislation & privacy or potential defamation.

The laptop & files are protected by a password known only to the clerk & the Chair.

McAfee Security Software is install on the laptop.

The clerk may use the laptop for personal use provided the following terms are adhered to.

CPC forbids:

• Visiting websites that contain obscene, hateful, pornographic or otherwise illegal material & passing on such material to others;
• Using IT to perpetrate any form of fraud, or software, film or music piracy;
• Using IT to send offensive or harassing material to others;
• Downloading copyrighted materials belonging to third parties, unless permitted under a commercial agreement or other such licence;
• Hacking into unauthorised areas;
• Publishing defamatory or knowingly false material about the Council, Councillors, members or residents on social networking sites, blogs, wikis’ & any online publishing formats;
• Undertaking deliberate activities that waste staff effort or networked resources;
• Introducing any form of malicious software into the corporate network;
• Gambling online;
• Disclosure of any confidential corporate information without express consent;
• Any other area that the Council reasonably believes may cause problems.

Breaching the above may be treated as gross misconduct which could lead to dismissal.