Example of social media policies
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Public Interest Law Center
3.12Social Media Policy
The guidelines below apply if you use Facebook®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, Instagram®, Snapchat®, or any other social media on which you identify your affiliation with the Law Center or discuss your work with the Law Center. Readers may assume you are speaking on behalf of the Law Center, therefore it is in all of our interests that your communications be transparent, ethical and accurate. These guidelines will help you talk about your involvement with the Law Center in an open and transparent way – earning and maintaining the trust of our clients and donors is of the utmost importance, so it is critical that we demonstrate professionalism when interacting online.
Use Disclaimers
Make clear that the views you are expressing are yours alone and not those of the Law Center. If you mention your affiliation with the Law Center on your social media profile(s), or you post a statement of opinion on an issue that concerns the Law Center, you should include a disclaimer either as part of your profile or in the post. For example:
The postings on this site are my own and don't represent the Law Center’s positions, strategies or opinions. Tweets are my own opinion.
Law Center leaders and lawyers have special responsibility when participating in online environments. By virtue of their position, they must consider whether personal thoughts they publish may be misunderstood as expressing Law Center positions, regardless of any disclaimer.
Be Transparent
If you discuss the Law Center, you have a duty to disclose your role as an employee, intern, or volunteer within the organization. You should also use your real name when discussing the Law Center on social media.
Be Accurate
Even though your posts may consist of personal opinion, do your research well and check that your facts are accurate. Make sure you have permission to post any copyrighted or information that may be subject to professional responsibility rules regarding client confidentiality (e.g., images), and be careful about posting or linking to items that may contain viruses.
Be Considerate
Remember that anyone, may be actively reading what you put online. Choosing your words and your content is all about judgment: using your internet postings as an opportunity to bash or embarrass our opponents in litigation, people with whom we disagree, the Law Center, our clients, our donors or your co-workers isn’t smart or professional. If you have suggestions for improvements at the Law Center, please go through the proper channels to air your concerns and share your suggestions.
Keep Disagreements Appropriate and Polite
When you see misrepresentations made about the Law Center by media, analysts, or bloggers, you may certainly use your own social media platforms—or add comments on the original discussion—to point that out. Always do so with respect, stick to the facts and identify your appropriate affiliation to Law Center. Avoid unnecessary or unproductive arguments. Online conflict may earn traffic, but escalation serves no one and you may negatively affect your own, and Law Center’s, reputation in the process.
Don't try to settle scores or goad adversaries or others into inflammatory debates. Here and in other areas of public discussion, make sure that what you are saying is factually correct.
Don’t Reveal Client Confidential Information
If you choose to use your social media platforms about the Law Center, by all means talk about your and our good work and make meaningful connections with your readers, but you must accomplish this while respecting the Law Center’s ethical obligation to maintain the confidentiality of our clients. Clients should not be named or obviously referenced and confidential information about them discussed without their written consent. It is acceptable to discuss general details and to use non-identifying pseudonyms so long as the information provided does not violate any our ethical obligations of confidentiality to the client or make it easy for someone to identify the client. It is acceptable and encouraged to share media hits or online content generated by the Law Center, which may (or may not) name clients that have consented to be publicly identified.
You should also be careful to protect the dignity of clients by refraining from discussions that reflect negatively on them, even if they are not named.
Respect Copyright Laws
Whether you are an employee, intern, or volunteer, you must show proper respect for the laws governing copyright and fair use of copyrighted material owned by others, including the Law Center’s own work. For reference, see the Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Guidance.
Respect Work Commitments
Blogging and other social networking activities may be either personal or work-related. During work hours, employees, interns, and volunteers should use office equipment to access personal social media in moderation, and only post content to the extent that it pertains to the work. For example:
An employee may use office equipment to post an article about a topic related to her work on her personal Twitter® account.
An employee should not use office equipment to post family or vacation photos on photo sharing platforms.
An employee may use office equipment to post a link from the Law Center’s Facebook page to his/her own Facebook page.
Notwithstanding any of the above, social media posts that pertain to candidates for office may not be made during working hours or with equipment owned by the Law Center or with a Law Center email address.
Respect the Diversity of the Law Center’s Community
If you choose to share your political or religious stances online, be certain you are representing yourself and not the organization as a whole. Do not use racial or ethnic slurs, personal insults, or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in the Law Center’s workplace.
Be Wary of Inadvertent Attorney-Client Relationships
Do not give legal advice via social media under any circumstances. The risk is that people will believe that you are forming an attorney client relationship, which creates a legal obligation on you. You may refer a questioner to individuals or resources that could be of assistance. You may also make statements of fact about cases or laws: for example: the Commonwealth Court held that Pennsylvania’s photo ID law is unconstitutional; or the United States Supreme Court has held that parents cannot recover expert fees in special education cases. If you do provide such general legal information or a referral be explicit that you are not taking the recipient on as a client. The line between information and advice is a thin one, so post carefully.
You should be particularly wary of providing information that could be construed as legal advice if you are not a lawyer. In addition to the consequences described above, you may be deemed to be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.
Reporting Unethical Conduct
If you witness illegal, unsafe or unethical conduct in online usage by a Law Center employee, intern or volunteer you should report the conduct to your supervisor.
Be Generous
The Internet is all about connecting with links, so if you see something interesting, valuable or relevant, link to it!
HAP Social Media Policy
24.Internet Policy and Social Media Usage
24.1Individuals shall have no expectations of personal privacy while using HAP computer systems and network resources, including personal password protected accounts (such as, but not limited to, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Internet activity, creating, sending, receiving or storing information in HAP’s systems, including email and voicemail systems, will be monitored for inappropriate or excessive activity. HAP has the right to view, audit and monitor all electronic transmissions utilizing HAP resources.
24.2Users that have internet access are required to use their privilege appropriately, effectively and efficiently for HAP business purposes. The incidental use of internet privileges for personal activities should not interfere with productivity, prevent any business activity, or reflect inappropriate uses that compromises or violates HAP’s policies and procedures.
24.3Employees that utilize Social Media using HAP or personal assets are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner.
24.4Prohibited Practices for Use of Social Media and HAP Assets. HAP may institute disciplinary action, up to and including termination, for actions which may be deemed inappropriate or cause harm to HAP’s reputation or assets, including but not limited to the following:
Employees may not:
•Engage in any activity that is illegal under local, state, federal or international law.
•Engage in any conduct on the internet that hurts or creates the potential for hurting HAP’s reputation, or creates an offensive or threatening work environment, including but not limited to violence or threat of violence of any kind, and any threatening language expressed in any form, including but not limited to writing, speech, or other electronic media (e.g., email, blogs, social media pages).
•Communicate business information over personal web-based email, social media networking sites, Internet chat rooms, instant messaging programs or other peer-to-peer applications.
•Use HAP’s assets to access any of the following:
oInternet games or online gambling
oOffensive or sexually explicit material
•Harass or otherwise intimidate other employees.
•Disseminate commercial or personal advertisements, solicitations, destructive programs, or political material.