Charity Commission draft guidance on use of social media

The Charity Commission is consulting on new Draft Guidance on charities’ use of social media. In brief, if you use social media you should:

• adopt a social media policy so that you have internal controls in place that are appropriate, proportionate and are clear to everyone at the charity using social media;
• ensure that you use social media only to help you achieve your charity’s purpose and in a way that is in your charity’s best interests;
• comply with relevant laws and regulations;
• ensure that any campaigning or political activity that you do on social media complies with the rules on political activity and campaigning; and
• ensure that your processes help you keep people safe online – read the “Operating online” section of the Commission’s guidance on safeguarding.

The consultation closes at 5 pm on 14 March 2023. According to Civil Society, Rosamund McCarthy Etherington of Stone King LLP has already warned that the Commission’s guidance “encroaches into the private lives of trustees, staff members and employees” and that its recommendation for trustees to set rules on workers’ personal accounts “raises fundamental issues in relation to protected philosophical beliefs under the Equality Act 2010 and Article 10 freedom of speech rights”.

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