Department of Corrections Corporate Policy
Corporate Policy
Social Media Policy
Last Review Date:
July 2016
Next Review Date:
July 2017
Approved by:
ELT
Owner:
National Manager Communications, Corporate Services
1982
Purpose
This policy aims to provide guidance for, and set out the obligations of, Corrections employees
Act
using social media both as a representative of the organisation and in a personal capacity.
Nothing in this policy modifies the principles and obligations described in the Code of Conduct.
The Communications team oversee this policy, and Corrections’ Social Media Strategy.
Staff with questions about Corrections’ use of social media should email
[email address] or contact the Communications team.
Staff with questions about the safe and careful use of social media in a personal capacity should
speak to their manager or the Integrity Support Team.
Information
Policy statement
The Department of Corrections promotes the use of social media where there are clear objectives,
the benefits outweigh the risks, and activities are managed appropriately.
Official
Scope
This policy applies to all employees and contractors of the Department of Corrections.
the
The policy is broad to accommodate the changing nature of social media.
Related documents
under
This policy should be read in conjunction with the following:
Department of Corrections Code of Conduct
IT Acceptable Use Policy and Mobile Phone Policy
Code of Conduct for the State Services
Department of Corrections Media Policy
Released
Department of Corrections’ Privacy and Personal Information Guide
Privacy Act 1993
Social Media Policy
Policy principles and standards
Staff access to social media at work
Given the sensitive nature of the work undertaken by Corrections, the use of social media at work
is restricted to those staff managing authorised Corrections social media platforms or those who
have an authorised business need. Authorised Corrections social media platforms include the
Corrections’ Facebook page, Twitter account and Youtube channel
1982
. All staff are able to access to
LinkedIn, to support recruitment initiatives. Corrections staff are able to view the latest content from
Corrections’ Facebook and Twitter feeds via widgets on the Corrections website,
Act
www.corrections.govt.nz.
Principles
Social media is an increasingly well-used and popular form of communication for individual,
businesses and organisations. Its benefits as a communications platform include increased
audience reach and reduced reliance on mainstream media. However, there are significant
reputational and legal risks to Corrections, including to staff, if processes are not followed.
Corrections, and its staff, are required to implement government policy. Public servants must be
Information
politically neutral and respect the authority of the government of the day.
All Corrections employees are expected to follow these principles when using social media tools as
a representative of the organisation or in a personal capacity:
Professionalism and integrity
Official
Personal responsibility
Personal safety, and of your co-workers and offenders
the
Consideration of personal privacy as well as that of the organisation, colleagues,
stakeholders, offenders and their families
Avoid comment or criticism of government policy
under
Respect copyright laws
Respect for their audience
Standards
The following policy standards must be followed at all times when using social media tools as a
representative of the organisation or in a personal capacity:
Released
Remain politically neutral
Corrections employees are personally responsible for the content they publish through
any social media tool. Public servants must avoid public comment or criticism of
2
Social Media Policy
government policy and are required to follow the guidelines set out in the
Department’s
Code of Conduct.
Generally, public servants have the same rights of free speech and independence in
the conduct of their private affairs as other members of the public. However, as public
servants, Corrections staff also have a duty not to compromise Corrections or the
Minister through public criticism of government policy.
Don’t comment on Corrections matters
1982
Corrections employees can use social media tools freely in their personal lives and
time, but should remember that they
cannot comment on Corrections related
matters, whether they relate to their role within Corrections or not, without specific
Act
authorisation. This excludes ‘liking’, ‘sharing’, ‘re-tweeting’ or other promotion of
content published to Corrections authorised social media platforms. Caution should
be used when ‘liking’, ‘sharing’, re-tweeting’ or promoting content from other users as
this can be seen as a view being expressed or supported.
Employees must make sure they do not disclose or use information that is
confidential or copyright to Corrections.
Employees must not disclose any organisational material or information that they are
not specifically authorised to disclose.
Information
Employees must honour the privacy rights of current Corrections employees,
offenders and stakeholders by seeking their permission before writing about or
displaying internal Corrections happenings that might be considered to be a breach of
their privacy and confidentiality. Official
Employees using social media for personal use must consider their association with
Corrections. If there may be uncertainty about the capacity in which an employee is
acting, they should make it clear to others that their contribution is as a private
the
individual.
Be safe
Refer to Corrections’
Social Media Safety Tips and the guide
Ensuring Your Personal
Safety to make sure you are using your social media safely. More tips can be found
under
on www.connectsmart.govt.nz.
Prisoners and offenders are known to use social media to obtain personal information
about staff. Journalists and media outlets also use social media as a source of
information. Employees are encouraged to be selective about who they connect with
and regularly review their privacy settings and ensure that their personal information
isn’t publicly available.
Released
Even social media sites with restricted privacy settings are in effect public, as you
cannot control what friends may do with the information.
Personal responsibility
3
Social Media Policy
Employees are responsible for anything they publish online. Employees may be
subject to disciplinary action by Corrections for commentary, content, or images that
are defamatory, pornographic, breach copyright, or personal privacy rights,
harassing, libellous, or that can create a hostile work environment.
Employees should be aware that even if they are not identified as a Corrections
employee, it should be assumed that readers can and will identify them as such. You
should not identify your employer when to do so would bring the organisation into
disrepute.
1982
Employees should be aware that comments made by them on social media platforms
may be reproduced and published by mainstream media. Comments remain
permanently available.
Act
Social media etiquette
Corrections employees should respect copyright laws when publishing content
through social media. Employees should always give proper credit for other’s work
and make sure they have the right to issue something with attribution before they
publish.
Employees must respect their audience and must not use ethnic slurs, personal
insults, obscenity, or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in the
Information
Corrections’ workplace. Employees should remember that readers of social media
include stakeholders, the media, current/past/future employees and offenders and
their friends and family.
Seek advice if you’re not sure
Official
If an employee is in any doubt whether comment could impact upon the role of
Corrections or cause embarrassment to Corrections they should discuss the matter
with their manager and the Communications team before making any comment.
the
For more information about personal use of social media and your obligations under
the Code of Conduct, as well as tips for keeping yourself safe, please refer to the
‘related documents’ section of this policy, the
Social Media Safety Tips, the
Ensuring
Your Personal Safety guide an
d www.connectsmart.govt.nz.
under
Released
4
Social Media Policy
Requirements and responsibilities
Person/Party
Responsibilities
Executive Leadership Team
Approves the policy.
(ELT)
National Communications
Owns the policy and strategy and has oversight of social media use.
Manager
1982
Managers
Ensure new and existing staff in their teams are made aware of this
policy, how it affects them and how they can comply with it.
All staff
Ensure they are familiar with this policy and understand how to comply
Act
with it.
Staff managing Corrections’
Ensure that social media initiatives they are responsible for comply with
social media platforms
this policy.
Definitions
Word/ phrase
Definition
Social Media
Social media is the term used to define a category of websites and tools
Information
based on user participation and user-generated content.
Social media tools include wikis, blogs, micro-blogging, video sharing,
photo sharing, podcasts, social networking tools such as Facebook
LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and any other form of
online publishing or discussion.
Official
the
under
Released
5
