FRIENDS OF KING ALFRED BUSES: SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DEFINITIONS:
‘Member’ means any person currently recorded as being a member of the Friends of King Alfred Buses Registered Charity (No. 1175535), including, for the avoidance of doubt, its trustees and honorary members.
‘The Charity’ means the Friends of King Alfred Buses Registered Charity (FoKAB).
‘Social Media’ means a type of interactive online media that allows parties to communicate instantly with each other or to share data in a public forum. This includes online social forums, anonymous apps, blogs, video and image sharing websites and similar facilities.
INTRODUCTION
The Charity strongly recognises the benefits and opportunities that Social Media can provide. It can be used to share news, information and successes and keep both Members and the general public updated with important developments including healthy debate about maters of transport heritage and preservation. There is, however, an inherent risk in using Social Media in that it is an instantaneous and far-reaching form of communication. Inappropriate use can impact on the reputation of the Charity. Whilst the Charity encourages Members to engage and collaborate
through Social Media, whenever they do this they must be conscious of potential impact on the Charity.
PURPOSE OF POLICY
This policy aims to minimise the risks of Social Media which can impact on the reputation of the Charity, so that Members and others can enjoy the benefits of social networking whilst understanding the standards of conduct expected by the Charity.
WHO DOES THIS APPLY TO?
This policy relates primarily to trustees and volunteers but can relate also to all Members who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, apps, forums, virtual worlds or any other kind of Social Media in the name of or recognisable as Members of the Charity. It should be applied to all use and all forms of Social Media where there is potential impact on the Charity, whether for business related or personal use and regardless of whether Social Media are accessed by Members’ own equipment or that of a third party.
PRINCIPLES
Members should only comment within their own areas of knowledge to provide individual perspectives on activities of the Charity and in any event only on maters which are not of a confidential nature.
Members should never represent the Charity in a false or misleading way. All statements must be true and correct to the best of their knowledge.
Use common sense and courtesy.
Members should ask the Secretary for permission to publish or report any conversations that may be private or internal to the Charity.
Where appropriate and where the law permits, the Charity reserves the right to monitor use of social media platforms and take appropriate action including termina ng membership to protect against any misuse that may be harmful to the Charity.
Members should seek guidance from the Secretary before participating in Social Media where the subject under discussion could be sensitive.
If a Member’s use of Social Media is considered to be derogatory, discriminatory, bullying, threatening, defamatory, offensive, intimidating, harassing, creating legal liability for the Charity, bringing the Charity into disrepute, breaching any of the Charity’s other policies then the Charity may terminate membership or take other action as appropriate. This may include comments, videos or photographs which have been posted on Social Media sites about the Charity and/or its members and business partners.
Social networking sites may be referred to should an investigation for possible misconduct by a Member become necessary.
Members should be aware of security threats and be on guard for social engineering and phishing attempts. Social networks can also be used to distribute spam and malware.
The Charity may require any Member to remove Social Media postings which are deemed to constitute a breach of these standards
RESPONSIBILITIES
Members should be transparent and state clearly that they are a Member of the Charity if they are posting about the Charity. Members must not give the impression that they are posting on behalf of the Charity (unless they are). No Member (other than a trustee in the ordinary course of the Charity’s business) may include in any posting any use of any registered trademarks belonging to the Charity. If a Member is writing about the Charity, they should use their real name, and identify their role within the Charity. The Charity discourages the use of posting online anonymously or using pseudonyms. Members should never impersonate another individual.
The Secretary is responsible for addressing any concerns or questions arising out of the use of Social Media.
Members are responsible for their words and actions in an online environment and are therefore advised to consider very carefully whether any comment, photograph or video concerning the Charity that they are about to post on a social networking site is something they would want fellow Members or the general public to read.
Friends of King Alfred Buses – 8th May 2024