Social Media Policy

1. Policy Aim and Purpose

This policy is a shared policy of AIUK Charitable Trust and AIUK Section, hereafter collectively described as "AIUK" and "we, us and our". The policy sets out the approach to the use of social media across all platforms to make sure that social media is used in a positive manner that supports the values of AIUK Charitable Trust and AIUK Section as well as the objects of the Charitable Trust. 

At AIUK, we recognise that social media provides unique opportunities to participate in interactive discussions and share information. We are committed to defending and upholding the right of people to freedom of expression and we value and encourage the role that social media can play in facilitating this. However, misuse of social media can contradict our values, create harm for others and damage our reputation.  

The policy covers how AIUK uses its own social media channels, how AIUK activist communities use social media channels, as well as expectations of the personal use of social media by staff and Board Members.

2. Who This Policy Applies To

The following people must follow this policy and the procedures that go with it (collectively referred to as "our people"): 

• AIUK staff (hereafter referred to as "colleagues"); 
• AIUK Section and Charitable Trust board members; 
• AIUK Volunteers – those who have been recruited to work as volunteers in AIUK offices and shops; and
• AIUK Activists - anyone who carries out unpaid activity on behalf of AIUK, including campaigning, training, fundraising or providing support to other activists. 

This policy doesn't form part of any employee's contract of employment, and it may be amended at any time.

3. How AIUK uses social media

3.1. AIUK objectives for social media

For AIUK, social media spaces play a key role in our fundraising efforts as well as in delivering to our 3 strategic goals of changing attitudes to human rights issues, building a powerful movement and winning human rights victories.  Through social media we can introduce new and existing audiences to our work and encourage them to get involved. It allows us to listen to what they're saying, to answer questions in an open and public way, and to better understand how we can communicate AIUK's work in an impactful and motivating way. 

3.2. Ownership and range of AIUK Social Media Accounts

Social Media provides a powerful way for AIUK to communicate.  There are three main types of AIUK-owned social media account:

• AIUK’s main accounts.  These are centrally held general accounts representing the whole of AIUK.  These accounts are managed by AIUK Digital Team staff.
   
• AIUK’s specialist accounts.  These are centrally held specialist accounts representing specific parts of AIUK’s work for instance in a particular part of the UK, or a particular specialism, for instance news.  These accounts are managed by AIUK’s relevant specialist staff.
   
• AIUK’s community held accounts which are managed by activists to represent their specific activist community, for instance local group or thematic network.

AIUK uses a range of social media platforms. Decisions on which social media platforms and channels to use are based on their likely effectiveness and regularly reviewed. 

The decision on which centrally held AIUK channels to use are made by the Head of Communications in conjunction with relevant specialist staff teams. Decisions on which activist community-led channels are used are made by the specific individual activist community concerned.

As a dual entity organisation, AIUK will clearly and publicly identify which entity or entities owns each AIUK social media account.  For the purposes of clarity of brand, this will mean that AIUK centrally held social media accounts will generally be held jointly by AIUK Charitable Trust and AIUK Section and this must be made clear in the bio/profile of each account.  

AIUK’s activist community accounts will generally be held by AIUK Section and should be identified as such in the bio/profile.

3.3. Social Media Moderation and interaction with third parties

AIUK moderates social media in line with our community guidelines.  See annexe one.

Sharing social media content from partner organisations and activists is great way for AIUK to show solidarity and support. Each instance of sharing is assessed against the goals and objectives of AIUK’s strategy and shared by the channel manager.  Sharing social media content from a partner organisation or activist is not an endorsement of the organisation or their work as a whole. 

AIUK uses platforms such as Facebook Business Manager, Twitter Ads, TikTok Ads Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads Manager to advertise across social media. Advertising space on these 'walled gardens' means we have a greater level of control over where our ads appear than by using display advertising.  

We use data collected from pixels to track behaviour and actions on the website. We build audiences based on completions of these actions, this helps us ensure we don't ask people to do something that they have already done with Amnesty UK. We also build 'Lookalikes' of these audiences, this means that marketing platforms look for people with similar interests and behaviour to people in our existing audiences, and we can then serve relevant communications to those people. Our purpose in building audiences and lookalike audiences is to use Amnesty International UK's resources in the most effective way possible, reaching the people who would be most interested in our work without wasting resources on those who won't be. Our website users have the option to opt out of this tracking by declining targeting cookies in our privacy preference centre. More information can be found in our Privacy Policy. 

We are committed to using these platforms responsibly and outline how we use supporter data on these platforms in our Privacy Policy. We do not share supporter data with 3rd parties except in exceptional circumstances - outlined in our Privacy Policy. 

4. Oversight and controls around those who uses social media on AIUK's behalf 

Only people who have been authorised to use AIUK's centrally held social media accounts may do so. Authorisation is provided by the Digital Engagement Manager and is typically granted when social media is critical to a colleague's' job, this ensures AIUK's social media presence is consistent, cohesive and minimises risk of content being posted that doesn't align with our organisations values and aims. AIUK has one login for each platform, access to this is granted to the login through individual account access to our secure password manager. We also have two-factor-authentication set up on each our social media accounts. 

Social media content on central AIUK channels is developed, scheduled, and posted by the relevant staff team in line with relevant approvals processes.

AIUK will only post content (including likes/shares) that is factually accurate, grounded in AIUK policy and/or research and/or reasonable argument.

Staff who are responsible for posting social media content are trained in the effective use of social media and AIUK’s approval processes.  Where relevant (ie on accounts held singly or jointly by AIUK Charitable Trust) each potential post is assessed to ensure alignment with the Charity’s objects.

Social media community management and moderation on AIUK's centrally held main accounts is managed by the Supporter Communications Team in line with AIUK’s Community Guidelines. Q&A's are developed for each campaign area and shared with both the Supporter Care and Digital teams to ensure that we have accurate and consistent information being shared with supporters from Amnesty International UK's social media channels.

Social media community management and moderation on AIUK's centrally held specialist accounts is managed by the relevant staff team who own the account in line with AIUK’s Community Guidelines

Social media community management and moderation on AIUK's community- held  accounts is managed by the relevant activist community who own the account in line with AIUK’s Community Guidelines.

5. Required conduct for those managing social media accounts

In addition to this policy, Amnesty International UK expects our people posting from social media accounts representing AIUK to behave in accordance with our values and to comply with the following policies:

• AIUK Code of Conduct if staff, or AIUK Activist Code of Conduct if an activist, 
• The Code of Fundraising Practice
• Safeguarding Policy
• Dignity at Work,
• Privacy Policy
• Equity and Inclusion Policy

All communications should be in line with the latest version of our Brand Guidelines and AIUK's inclusive, equitable and anti-racist communications principles

Failure to comply with any or all of the above will lead to appropriate action in line with AIUK's people policies or the activist code of conduct when relevant.

6. Personal Use of Social Media 

As a human rights organisation, AIUK values and supports the freedom of speech of all our people.

Our people who use social media channels to express their personal opinions are free to do so without reference to AIUK's impartiality principles and policy positions provided they do not include any reference to their role at AIUK in their social media biography.  They are able to post and share AIUK and Amnesty International actions and content as individuals but this will not be expected of them.  

Regardless of whether AIUK is mentioned in their social media biography, if any of our peoples' personal use of social media is found to bring the organisation into disrepute, for instance though illegal activity or hate speech AIUK's code of conduct (for staff or activist as relevant), and relevant disciplinary policy will apply, in the same way that it would if this activity took place in any other setting regardless of whether the activity took place during working hours or not.  Our people may be required to remove posting on the internet or social media which AIUK deems to breach this policy.

If a staff member or board member chooses to include their role at AIUK in their biography they are bound by the same rules of political impartiality and adherence to AIUK policies and values as they would if there were running an official AIUK account.  Failure to comply with this could lead to disciplinary action.

We expect our people to be sensitive about using other people’s images.  We would encourage our people to seek consent before sharing images of others on personal social media channels.

7. Staying Safe Online

Our people should be wary of phishing attempts and never click on suspicious links or reveal personal, confidential or sensitive information about themselves, supporters or AIUK. 

AIUK may be subject to attacks from individuals or entities creating fake accounts that claim to be AIUK. If any of our people come across these then they should please follow the relevant policies and procedures in the platform to report these accounts e.g Facebook.

Individuals who represent AIUK may be subject to direct abuse via social media.  Individuals are encouraged to report this to their line manager or other relevant staff member for support and advice.

Useful guidance from the charity Glitch can be found here.

AIUK People Team and Mental Health First Aiders are also available to provide support where needed.

AIUK provides a free counselling service for staff and lead activists. To contact this service, email assist@cic-eap.co.uk or call 0800 919709.

8. Responding to incidents 

AIUK will make informed decisions on when and if to respond to complaints and concerns raised on social media.

AIUK will manage any potential crises, including a crisis generated by, or involving social media in line with our crisis management protocol.

The CEO should be informed of any incident that may present a risk of significant harm to AIUK or those it comes into contact. All such incidents will be reported to the relevant Board (or both Boards) at the next available meeting, or (if urgent) between meetings. 

Where relevant, the Trustees will determine whether an incident merits a serious incident report to the Charity Commission.

9. Policy Review

Our social media policy will be reviewed and updated every 12 months as the social media landscape changes dramatically and frequently on a regular basis. We will also take the opportunity to review this policy after any major announcement from a leading social media platform that would change how AIUK would operate on social media, or a serious incident (as defined by the Charity Commission) has occurred. 

Annexe One – Community Guidelines

Community Rules

Our community rules are a shared policy of Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust and Amnesty International UK Section, hereafter collectively described as Amnesty International UK.

The following community rules relate to Amnesty International UK’s social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. We want our platforms to be safe and welcoming to everyone, including our younger supporters.

What we encourage you to do in our communities

Amnesty International UK has its own presence on many social media channels, and we encourage you to connect with us on our social media spaces - it is your input that makes them. We encourage you to:

- Share your views, content, and comments on our social media spaces.

- Respect others - we ask that all community members use respectful language and treat others with respect and kindness, even if they disagree with their opinions.

- Stay on topic - we encourage discussion about human rights issues and our Amnesty International UK’s work. However, we ask that conversations remain relevant and on-topic. 

- Fact-check information before sharing as misinformation and fake news can spread quickly on social media.

What we do not allow

All comments, messages, wall posts and tweets are moderated, and we want to avoid anything being shared on our pages that could put you or others at risk. We ask that you adhere to the following:

- Don’t use hate speech - hate speech directly attacks a person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, disease, age, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.

- Don't bully or harass - we welcome debate and different opinions, but don't resort to personal attacks, refrain from trolling and using derogatory language.

- Don't post content only available in another language. We are unable to be sure of its suitability for our supporters and will delete it.

- Don't post videos or images people may find distressing - such as videos of graphic violence.

- Don't use our page to advertise products or services for profit, or to promote a group or charity not related to human rights.

- Don’t share obscenities - sexually explicit and vulgar language - including images, GIFs or the inappropriate use of emojis are not welcome. 

- Don’t share personal details about you or other people - such as your own or anyone else’s phone numbers, addresses, bank details, email addresses, etc.

Comment Moderation and Response

We will do our best to moderate and respond quickly to your comments and feedback. Our channels are moderated daily Monday to Friday.

Although we are moderating our channels to make sure that users’ posts comply with these community rules, we cannot be responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any comments or materials posted by users.

Amnesty International UK reserves the right to hide or delete any comments or content deemed to be inappropriate. If you repeatedly ignore our community rules, we reserve the right to ‘ban’ or ‘block’ users without warning. 

If you have any questions about these rules or would like further information, please contact our Supporter Communications Team by emailing sct@amnesty.org.uk.