ABC implements strict social media rules for staff
The ABC has issued strict new social media rules for its employees and contractors, following its high-profile legal battle with casual on-air presenter Antoinette Lattouf over a Twitter post.
The new ‘public comment guidelines’ were issued on Wednesday afternoon, and replace the broadcaster’s ‘personal use of social media guidelines’. They apply to all ABC workers, covering both salaried employees and contracted workers.
Excerpts from the guidelines show that ABC workers are banned from making public comment that:
• Undermines your perceived or actual ability to perform your role.
• Undermines the independence or integrity of the ABC or any ABC editorial content.
• Implies ABC endorsement of your personal views.
• Is on behalf of the ABC, or in a way that could be seen as representing the ABC, without prior authorisation.
The ABC defines public comments as those being made “on social media, at public events, or in any context where comments may reasonably be expected to reach a public audience.”
Antionette Lattouf outside the Federal Court , which found she was unlawfully terminated by the ABC for sharing a social media post
While the standards and definitions appear to have been written with a broad brush, the ABC will apply the rules more strictly to senior and public-facing staff, as well as to those with a more public association with the ABC.
The guidelines say that “the higher a worker’s public profile or seniority, the greater the potential reputational damage a breach of these standards may cause, both to the individual and the ABC.”
Journalists, producers, editors, and those involved in editorial decision-making “carry the highest risk of undermining the independence and integrity of ABC content”, and will be most firmly held to account.
Likewise, directors, heads of departments and other senior executives are also seen as representing the ABC, and pose a larger risk of public fallout.
Workers with little or no involvement with content creation are considered at low risk of breaching the standard, while “actors, artists, performers, and external commentators and contributors are typically not seen as representing the ABC”, and are therefore also low risk.
The guidelines warn a worker’s contract “may include specific restrictions regarding public comments” and that any conduct that breaks the law — such as defamation or vilification — will leave workers “personally liable for any such claims or actions”.
The ABC also says it “does not wish to unnecessarily curtail [workers’] engagement in civic life, including by expressing personal views outside of work”.
According to the document, the code of conduct was created and endorsed by the ABC board in July, just weeks after the Federal Court found Lattouf was unlawfully terminated by the ABC for sharing a social media post.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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