Working with your staff to ensure online safety

It is important to agree a protocol setting out the boundaries in terms of social media and online content and to share this with social media users.

Two examples of such protocols, taken from the websites of Labour MP Jo Stevens and Conservative MP Stuart Anderson can be seen below.

Labour MP for Cardiff East Jo Stevens's website and social media policy

"This website and associated social media channels – Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and TikTok – are managed by members of Jo Stevens MP’s team. They are designed to share news, photos, and resources about Cardiff East, including what your MP is doing in the constituency and Parliament – and how you can get involved. 

"We want these online spaces to be a safe places for people – particularly constituents of Cardiff East – to share their comments and thoughts on the issues covered here. To make sure our online community is a safe and enjoyable environment for people to comment, question and engage in debate, we ask everyone to follow these community guidelines:

1. We encourage respectful discussion between people. You don’t have to agree with what other people say or share, but please treat everybody with dignity, courtesy and respect.

2. Comments expressing any of the following will be removed and reported by our moderators:
   a. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexuality, sex, gender, age or disability 
   b. Advertising or promotion of any services or pages 
   c. Unintelligible spam or comments that are not relevant to the topics raised on the page, or the same comment(s) on multiple posts
   d. Violence or harm towards MPs, our moderators, or anyone else on our page 
   e. Misinformation and conspiracy theories 
   f. Comments from fake accounts or bots that seek to hijack the comments

3. Our moderators will decide which comments break these guidelines, and will hide and delete any comments that do, as well as block any users who do not follow the guidelines.

4. To keep comment moderation manageable for our moderators, we will limit the public reply and comment functions on some posts.

5. We may also report harassment and malicious communication to the police if needed.

"As always, if you live in Cardiff East and have an issue you would like to raise directly with your MP, please email: jo.stevens.mp@parliament.uk, ensuring you include your full name and address as Parliamentary rules mean that this office is only able to represent constituents of Cardiff East. Thank you."

South Shropshire Conservative MP Stuart Anderson's social media protocol

"I am proud to have been elected as the Member of Parliament for South Shropshire. I am keen to hear from and engage with as many residents as possible, and have already engaged with many through surveys online, by email, out campaigning, attending local events and hosting my own 'Meet the Candidate' events. 

"I use social media to promote my activities and priorities as I campaign, raising local issues as well as national Conservative policies. I know that I hold political views not everyone will agree with. I also know that others will have their own views and opinions that I may not agree with. I respect this. Even if I don’t agree with someone’s views, it is still their right to hold them.

"That said, it is incumbent upon all of us to discuss political issues with respect and moderation. No one should feel intimidated or threatened, online or offline. There are a number of ground rules that I have set for my social media channels. These have been designed to ensure that all interactions uphold the principles of mutual respect and common courtesy. Sadly, there are some who wish to abuse my social media for their own purposes. I do not believe that this is right. I do not do this to others with different viewpoints. I have a right to protect myself from any threats of harassment and abuse.

"My social media channels are my own platform, owned and curated by myself and/or select people who help manage my social media. While I will occasionally respond to comments, these platforms are not an appropriate place to raise matters that need an in-depth response. Comments are not a substitute for emails, and I won’t be able to respond in the same way. It is best to send your enquiry as an email to stuart.anderson.mp@parliament.uk. 

"The ground rules that I have set for my social media channels are as follows:

1. As I have mentioned above, the primary purpose of my social media accounts is to champion local issues and promote my work in Parliament on behalf of my constituents. If you are identified as not living or working in the constituency, you may have your comments ignored, hidden, or removed.

2. Abuse and threats of any kind will not be tolerated – even if you think that the words you used were mild or posted with tongue in cheek. Any comments that are felt not to be polite or respectful may be hidden or deleted without prior notice. The account that is posting them may also be blocked and reported to the social media companies and to the Police accordingly. I have a zero-tolerance policy, which means all threats and abuse will be reported straightaway to appropriate authorities.

3. Whilst I welcome feedback, the comments sections of my social media channels are not to be used by opposition activists or organisations to post their own political views. As long as they follow the rules set by the social media company, they should be able to create their own page or account.

4. Likewise, comments that are intended to deflect or divert attention from the content of the main post may be removed without prior notice.

5. Spamming is not tolerated. This includes persistent posting of comments across multiple posts or platforms that say the same thing or an unrelated comment to the original post. These comments will be deleted and the account that is posting them may be blocked without any prior notice.

6. Advertising of any kind is not permitted and any genuine recommendations of products or services that people make in the comments are the responsibility of the person making the recommendation.

7. No issues should be raised on my social media that accuse or insinuate an individual or organisation of wrong doing or of a confidential nature. These should either be raised directly with the police or emailed to myself at stuart.anderson.mp@parliament.uk"