New Delhi: The government today issued guidelines for its
departments using social media networks asking them not to post
confidential information and "unverified" facts.
With
40 million Facebook and 16 million twitter users in India, social media
has emerged as a powerful platform for forming an opinion as well as
generating mass support, the Information Technology Ministry said in its
38-page guidelines issued today.
"Great care must be taken to avoid propagation of unverified facts and frivolous misleading rumours," it said.
It asked persons handling social media for all government agencies
including public sector undertakings not to "comment and respond unless
authorised to do so especially in the matters that are sub-judice, draft
legislations or relating to other individuals".
Asking social
media handlers to be polite, discrete and respectful, the guidelines
said personal comments for or against any individuals or agencies should
not be made and professional discussions should not be politicised.
"Not
all posts/comments need to be responded to immediately and
individually. Also, wherever a response is required all posts should be
kept short and to the point," it said adding infringement of IPR and
copyrights of others should be avoided.
The guidelines said while
employees were free to post response in their personal capacity, "it is
mandatory that while they are doing so, they must clearly identify
themselves, confidential information must not be divulged and should not
be seen to represent 'official view' unless authorised to do so".
The
guidelines stated that social media can only be used by the government
to communicate existing government information and propagate official
policy to the public.
Social media, it said, should only be one
of the components of the overall citizen engagement strategy and
government departments must desist from using only social media to
communicate with their stakeholders.
"Initially, the departments
may just aim to post information regularly. For example, if it is a
Facebook page, posting may be done at least a couple of times a week and
on Twitter slightly more frequently," it said.
The government's
communication to citizens via social media should follow the same data
retention policy as its communication through other electronic and
non-electronic channels.
"When any information is shared or
guidance given online, it is necessary to ensure that all relevant
records are captured, trail is generated and records are managed
appropriately," the guidelines stated.
The government said the
guidelines have been formulated with a view to help ministries,
departments and agencies to make use of social media platforms to engage
more meaningfully with their various stakeholders.
World over,
various government agencies use various social media platforms to
interact with their stakeholders. In US, the White House has Facebook
page and a Twitter profile.
Even the US Army has a Facebook page
and a social network website called GovLoop.com was created within the
US Department of Homeland Security to share experiences and best
practices.
In India, the Prime Minister's Office this January
launched social media initiatives and currently uses Twitter, Facebook
and YouTube. The Ministry of External Affairs is also present on
Twitter.
Courtesy: http://www.ndtv.com/
