Ref. Ares(2021)4153264 - 25/06/2021
SOCIAL
MEDIA
GUIDELINES
FOR STAFF
PURPOSE
Thinking of using your personal social media account to
communicate on EU
matters, but not sure about the rules and best practice for this?
Social media can be an excellent communication tool and help amplify messages and
facilitate connections to new audiences. As an institution, we would like to
encourage
and empower you to use these channels to speak about the EU and its policies with
the general public.
The EU needs the advocacy of committed Europeans, and Commission staff have an
important role to play. We hope that many of you will act as
ambassadors of our
European policies and values, including in your use of social media.
However, there are certain considerations you need to bear in mind. This is because
the very nature of social media often makes it difficult to draw lines between public/
professional and personal use.
In addition, even when you use social media in your personal capacity, you remain a
member of Commission staff and are bound by certain obligations resulting from the
Staff Regulations (in particular Articles 11, 11a, 12, 17, 17a), as set out below.
To help you respect these statutory obligations, these Guidelines provide you with
advice on how to use social media to communicate on EU matters, in a way that is
appropriate and safe.
Although the present Guidelines do not cover your personal use of social
media when it is not related to EU matters, some of the rules and practical
recommendations also apply (see Part 4).
SCOPE
These Guidelines cover the
personal use of social media when communicating
on EU matters.
They apply to
all Commission staff, which means:
•
statutory staff (officials, temporary agents and contract agents)
•
seconded national experts
(for their obligations, see Article 7 of Commission Decision C (2008) 6866)
•
contractors or other
service providers (who should also use these guidelines as a
point of reference when using social media in their personal capacity).
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These Guidelines
do not cover cases where staff have been mandated to
speak on behalf of the Commission, to act on behalf of the Commission in the
Commission’s administrative relations with the public, or to relay institutional
messages as part of their duties (e.g. Commissioners, spokespersons, Heads
of Representation, press officers in Representations, or when staff post on the
social media profiles of an official EC presence, such as EC corporate accounts,
DGs, Representations or EU programmes).
"PUBLICATIONS" – SPECIAL RULES
Some social media content (e.g. blogs) may amount to a
"publication", as defined in
the
Staff Regulations. If so, the respective Staff Regulations rules apply – especially
the requirement to get
prior approval from your institution
(Article 17a).
What makes something a publication?
The main criteria to consider are the length, the text itself and the audience.
Publication
Opinions which go beyond a short appreciation and amount to a structured stand-
alone text.
Not a publication
– Short messages that consist merely of sharing pre-existing content.
– Opinions which consist of simply expressing a short appreciation (thoughts, beliefs,
or feelings) of a pre-existing content.
More details on MyIntraComm: Staff Matters -> Ethics -> Individual Obligations ->
Right of Freedom of Expression. If in doubt, contact the Central Ethics Service HR.E.3.
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RULES & PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS
1. PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
As a Commission staff member,
you can use social media, in your own personal
capacity, including to share or comment on EU-related content and topics.
We encourage you to make full use of the opportunities offered by social media for
this purpose, in accordance with the principles in these Guidelines.
We recommend that you use official sources to share content related to EU matters.
One convenient option is the staff advocacy tool
Smarp, which contains dozens of
interesting, ready-to-share stories.
Signing up is quick and easy at ec.smarpshare.com.
If you have questions, contact xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
You must ensure that your use of social media does not mistakenly give
the impression that you are speaking on behalf of the Commission. Where
appropriate, you should use a disclaimer (e.g. in the profile of your account)
stating that you are responsible for the content and that it does not necessarily
reflect the views of the European Commission.
While everyone is free to open a personal social media account, the creation of
dedicated Commission accounts, e.g. to communicate around projects, needs
to be agreed with your social media team and DG COMM. Using the latter
accounts falls under the mandated use of social media, which is not covered
by these Guidelines.
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2. YOUR DUTIES RESULTING FROM THE STAFF REGULATIONS
Whether you choose to state where you work or not on social media, be aware that
you are at all times:
- bound by the Staff Regulations (especially Articles 11, 11a, 12, 17, 17a)
-
accountable for your actions.
At any time, even if you use social media to communicate on EU matters in your
personal capacity, you remain a member of the Commission staff and your activity
might be traced back to you and the Institution.
Failure to comply with the Staff Regulations in the context of the application of these
Guidelines may lead to disciplinary follow-up.
The core principles that apply are summarised below. If in doubt, contact your manager
and/or your communication unit/team. If the question relates specifically to the
application of Ethics rules, contact the Central Ethics Service HR.E.3.
a. Circumspection
Exercise caution, carefulness, moderation and a due sense of proportion and
propriety (see also section “c” below).
In practice:
- Think about your contributions to social media in the same way as you would do if
you communicate with other media or speak at meetings and conferences;
- Remain respectful at all times (never use offensive language or content);
- Ignore provocation and be aware of the potential escalation of the online conversation;
- Be aware that any online message (even if initially posted in a private forum) can
become public and, once posted, it is difficult to remove it;
- Be aware that third persons may also perceive you as a Commission official and a
representative of the European institutions even if you have made a disclaimer.
b. Confidentiality
As a member of Commission staff, you have an obligation not to disclose, without
authorisation, information received in the line of duty, unless that information has
already been made public or is accessible to the public (see however section “c” below).
Unauthorised disclosure of information, intentionally or through negligence, notably to
somebody outside the Institution who should not know about this information (at least
before a certain "release date"), constitutes a leak and can be highly damaging to the
interests of the Commission.
In practice:
- Internal documents such as drafts, data, notes, emails etc. (and in particular, classified
or sensitive information) can never be shared or referred to on social media;
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- Do not disclose any information about the exact nature of your work that is not yet
publicly available; in particular, do not mention any reference to specific sensitive
files you may be working on.
c. Objectivity, impartiality and loyalty to the Institution
While you are entitled to freedom of expression, you need to pay due respect to
the limits resulting from the Staff Regulations and notably from the principles of
objectivity, loyalty and impartiality.
Be careful to avoid any act or behaviour which might
reflect adversely upon your
position and the Commission (cf. Article 12 of the Staff Regulations), e.g. sharing
content which could have a negative impact on the Commission’s reputation and/or
could pose a security risk on the Commission’s assets, particularly when you identify
yourself as a staff member of the European Commission or when the context might
lead to that conclusion.
When sharing content, always take into account your position and your field of
expertise. If public content relates to your precise area of work, it could have a greater
impact on the audience you decide to share it with.
Before sharing such content, you should pay extra attention to the sensitivity of the
file (unless an official Commission account has already promoted the same content
in social media previously). If in doubt, consult your communication team and/or your
line manager in advance before taking any action.
John Doe @JohnDoe 4h
The project number 3
is very cool
#euisnumber3
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In some instances, even
commenting on public information or targeting a
specific audience when sharing content could be seen a breach of impartiality
by your institution (especially if related to investigations or calls for tender).
In practice:
- Only share correct information; be aware of fake news and an evolving media
landscape where everyone can post information;
- Never post content on social media which could have a negative impact on the
Commission's reputation and/or could pose a security risk on the Commission's
assets;
- Fully anonymous use of social media (i.e. with "dummy" untraceable accounts) is
not recommended;
- Do not express opinions that could impair your ability to be seen as performing your
duties in an objective or impartial manner.
- Pay particular attention not to be seen as speaking on behalf of the Commission
when the content relates to your area of work.
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3. PERSONAL USE OF COMMISSION ICT SERVICES
When using the Commission's ICT (information and communication technology)
services to post on social media in your personal capacity, follow the:
– guidelines on using ICT services (admin. notice n° 24-2016)
– rules on personal use of ICT services
Personal use of social media while using the Commission ICT equipment is permitted,
if it is limited and reasonable (similar to, for example, personal use of professional
e-mail or telephone in the office).
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4.GENERAL ADVICE WHEN USING SOCIAL MEDIA
a. Be aware of privacy settings
Content on a social media platform can be shared and made available to different
audiences, depending on the platform and/or the settings chosen by the user (e.g.
to the public or only to friends or friends of friends). You may also be able to control
whether content you post can be re-shared by others.
Make sure you carefully read the privacy policies and learn to manage the privacy and
data protection settings of different platforms on which you are active.
In practice:
- Be aware of the risks linked to content you have previously published or threads
where you intervened but which you do not control because they can be publically
shared;
- Always be aware that any detail of your personal life you disclose could be misused
by third parties, e.g. to harm you or the Commission and other European Union
institutions;
- We recommend you minimise the availability of key personal data such as your date
and place of birth.
b. Respect copyright
If you want to use content such as texts, pictures, videos or music that belongs to
third parties in social media, you must be aware that this content may be protected
by copyright.
You can use someone else's photo (or any other copyrighted material) when the
copyright owner gives you written permission specifically to use the content in social
media (a generic permission to use the content on the web is not sufficient).
In practice:
- Unless explicitly stated, any picture you find on the internet could be copyrighted;
- Check the licence of every image before using it on social media. If you are not sure
about the rights/ownership, do not use that picture. Please note that widely used
licences (for instance, Creative Commons) are often not compatible with most social
media’s terms of use;
- Also, respect the privacy of people depicted in photos and videos, and don’t post a
person’s image without their consent;
- You may at any time ask the Commission’s communication units to provide you with
material that you can use on social media.
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c. Maintain strong security of your accounts
In practice:
- If you use social media mostly for personal use, use your private e-mail address
rather than your European Commission e-mail;
- Be aware that fake social media messages or profiles are often used to perform
phishing and ultimately hack your account;
- Choose strong passwords, different from your passwords at work, and change them
regularly;
- Use any additional security options, such as stronger authentication methods;
- If you suspect your account has been hacked, reset your password immediately,
make sure the e-mail address connected to the account is secure, revoke connections
to third party applications and update the passwords in your trusted third-party
applications.
PC password
12345
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d. If you have made a mistake, correct it as soon as possible
In practice:
- On Twitter, post a new tweet stating it is a correction of a previous one and delete
the one with the error;
- On other platforms, edit the post in question (if possible);
- If your attention is brought to the problem by someone else, thank them for letting
you know and inform them you have made the correction.
If there is a security-related incident and it may harm the Commission or yourself,
report it immediately to the HR Security Directorate.
REVISION
The effectiveness of these guidelines will be evaluated
three years after they are
adopted, or earlier if necessary, and may be revised.
These guidelines replace the information contained in Administrative Notice N° 34-
2011 of 19 August 2011 on Social Media Guidelines for all staff.
Irene SOUKA
Timo PESONEN
Director-General - DG HR and Security
Director-General – DG COMM
CONTACTS
DG HR – Central Ethics Service: xxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
DG COMM – Social Media Team: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
DG HR – Security Directorate: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
January 2019
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Electronically signed on 23/06/2021 22:07 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482