Social Media Policy

COR345 V3

Timeframe for review:                 Every two years, or earlier if required

Document authorisation:            ACEM Board

Document implementation:        Executive Director, Membership and Engagement

Document maintenance:             Manager, Governance and Standards

Copyright

2023. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. All rights reserved.

The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM; the College) uses social media to build communities for its members, trainees, partners, employees and the general community to interact and connect with the College.

Social media supports the organisational goals of:

• continuing to develop relationships with members and trainees, and ensuring the relationship is an interactive and collaborative connection;
• developing, facilitating, participating and/or generating online member communities around areas of practice and interest, member debate and discussion, and online learning resources.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline the guidelines and protocols for representing ACEM in social media channels.

These guidelines apply to the governing bodies and entities of ACEM, College members, trainees, and employees, as well as agencies.

Social media

means websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking, including, but not limited to, applications such as:

• Social networking sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Yammer;
• Blogs: InsideACEM, wikis and online collaborations, forums, discussion boards and groups (web based, eLearning platforms);
• Instant messaging: Skype IM, WhatsApp, Signal, Microsoft Teams, Discord and SMS;
• Video and photo sharing websites: Flickr, Vimeo and YouTube.

Agencies

means external communications agencies engaged by the College on a fee for service arrangement.

Employee

means any employee or contractor engaged by the College.

Member

means a person admitted as a member of the College pursuant to the provisions of the ACEM Constitution and associated regulations and, for the purposes of this policy, also includes any other person serving on any College entity or as a College representative.

Trainee

means a person enrolled in and undertaking an ACEM training program and, for the purposes of this policy, Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMGs) undertaking College requirements for the purpose of attaining eligibility for election to Fellowship of the College.

• ACEM’s external social media presence is managed and maintained by the Media and Communications Division, within the Membership and Engagement Department.
• ACEM-branded social channels can only be created with the express endorsement of the College Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ACEM President or ACEM Board.
• The Media and Communications Division:
  • has editorial control over all content across all ACEM social media channels and will seek factual input and support from subject matter experts where social media responses are required;
  • is responsible for determining the content that is appropriate for each social media channel;
  • maintains ACEM’s social media presence and ensures posts are made regularly;
  • manages conversations and feedback on ACEM’s social channels – seeking factual input and support from subject matter experts in responding; and
  • responds to queries in a timely manner.
• Members, trainees and employees are encouraged to positively engage with ACEM’s social media channels as part of their role in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the ACEM Employee Code of Conduct.
• College departments wishing to share content via ACEM’s social media channels related to work of the department (including requests from governing bodies and other ACEM entities) should action such requests via the Communications and Media Division, using a communications content request via the College Intranet.

Social media forms part of the College’s records and will be appropriately retained according to relevant legislation and applicable College policies.

All communication to or from the Media, including social media, must be directed to the College Media and Communications Division, in accordance with the ACEM Media Policy.

4.1 Authorisation to comment

• All members, trainees and employees must have prior authorisation, whether for the specific area/matter or generally (as applicable), to comment on social media as an ACEM representative.
• Authorisation for members and trainees to comment on social media as an ACEM representative is provided by the ACEM President for members and trainees and the CEO for College employees.
• Authorisation for College employees to publish content via ACEM social media channels is provided by the General Manager, Media and Communications, Executive Director, Membership and Engagement, or the College CEO. .
• When responding, commenting or posting on any matter(s) or aspect(s) regarding ACEM through ACEM social media channels, authorised social media representatives must:
  • adhere to the terms of use for using the social media platform or website;
  • adhere to all applicable legislation, including copyright, privacy, defamation, anti-discrimination, harassment;
  • adhere to the standards of professional conduct outlined in the ACEM Code of Conduct;
  • ensure that all content published is accurate and not misleading and complies with all relevant organisational policies and other relevant requirements;
  • ensure content published is consistent with and reflective of the College’s formal, public policy positions;
  • not disclose information which could be construed as misleading or inaccurate;
  • only disclose and discuss publicly available information, and ensure confidentiality where personal and commercial-in-confidence information is concerned;
  • only comment on matters within their area of expertise and authority, unless instructed to do so and copy has been provided by a subject matter expert with appropriate approval;
  • ensure that their posts/comments are respectful, accurate, professional, honest and free from any partisan political views;
  • not promise or commit to any initiatives without gaining prior permission to do so from the relevant Executive Director and College member/trainee where applicable beforehand; and
  • ensure appropriate permissions have been obtained before posting a person’s image on social media.

4.2 Promoting ACEM on personal social media profiles

All members, trainees and employees are encouraged to help promote ACEM by engaging in social media by:

• Sharing or retweeting College posts and commenting in their social networks;
• advocating for ACEM and emergency medicine in a positive manner by focusing on positive messages about ACEM and emergency medicine;
• monitoring comments made by participants in ACEM social media applications and escalating any negative messages/comments/posts made about ACEM to the General Manager, Communications and Media, Executive Director Membership and Engagement or CEO; and
• making valuable and considered posts and tweets to generate/facilitate conversation. Quality is more important than the volume.

This policy does not discourage nor unduly limit members, trainees and employees from using social media for personal expression or other on-line activities in their personal life.

The College encourages members and trainees to consider their obligations and responsibilities as healthcare practitioners in relation to social media activity, as required by relevant regulatory authorities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as applicable social media policies of their employers. The College is unable to provide assistance where breaches of social media policies external to the College may be found to have occurred.    

Where a College member, trainee or employee becomes aware of inappropriate or unlawful online content relating to ACEM or of another breach of this policy, this should be reported to the General Manager, Communications and Media, Executive Director, Membership and Engagement and/or CEO as soon as possible.

Consequences of breach of policy vary depending on the individual(s) involved and the nature and severity of the breach. Breaches will be considered under the applicable provisions of the ACEM Constitution and/or associated College regulations, policies and procedures, as applicable.

Consequences of breach of policy include:

• authorised social media representatives – implications for the representative’s ongoing membership or employment with the College.
• members and trainees – removal from an appointed College position(s) or termination of membership/removal from an ACEM training program, as applicable.
• employees – a written warning or termination of employment.
• contractors – termination of contract.

Where inappropriate use under this policy constitutes a breach of any law, action may also be taken in accordance with that law by ACEM or concerned third parties.

• ACEM Constitution
• ACEM Regulations
• ACEM Code of Conduct (COR235)
• ACEM Core Values
• ACEM Employee Code of Conduct
• Media Policy (COR90)
• Privacy Policy