Social Media Policy January 2014

What is social media? Broad definition The exchange of user generated information by electronic means The use of social media is expanding rapidly. Individuals and organisations are embracing user-generated content, such as social networking, personal websites, discussion forums and message boards, blogs and microblogs. Whether an online activity is able to be viewed by the public or is limited to a specific group of people, health professionals need to maintain professional standards and be aware of the implications of their actions, as in all professional circumstances. Health professionals need to be aware that information circulated on social media may end up in the public domain, and remain there, irrespective of the intent at the time of posting

Scope of Regulation 5 P’s of regulation Scope in Australia is title protection What can be done depends on the regulatory power People, places, processes, produces prices

Regulation settings

Regulatory approach to Social media Not illegal but could be harmful Many upsides What are the harms and what regulatory tools are proportionally best to deal with those harms Harms are familiar Sufficient regulatory tools already exist Decontextualisation of information and identity Potentially misleading and deceptive vs Widespread, efficient and effective communication

Social Media Policy... Social media policy – both professional and advertising requirements Requirements the same as those that exist elsewhere You are responsible for all content on your social media pages/sites. Includes personal pages and closed forums Dealing with the GAP Promulgate awareness and understanding that existing obligations apply However, it does not change the basic obligations that practitioners must meet. The Social media policy explains how the obligations that already exist in the National Law and Code of Conduct apply to social media. The basic principle is that the same expectations apply to your behaviour wherever it occurs – online or in person. The National Law does not ban the use of social media. Social media refers to any internet based application that facilitates the exchange of user generated content. User-generated content is common in the online environment. A person can provide feedback, respond to articles, post images and generate other forms of content on websites Practitioners with social networking accounts (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) should carefully review content regularly to make sure that all material complies with their obligations under the National Law. Businesses using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have a responsibility to ensure content on their page is accurate, irrespective of who put it there. You can be held responsible for posts or public comments made by others on your social media pages which are false or likely to mislead or deceive consumers.

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