Social Media Policy

A Social Media Policy is a document used to advise the representative of an organization about their use of social media. With the rapid increase in the use of social media sites, it is pertinent to have a well-drafted policy to guide the representative about the proper uses and restrictions.

Having a social media policy for a business is essential in making sure the employees know what they should and should not do on social media channels. Additionally, it helps the organization to protect against any legal or security issues. Adherence to a properly drafted social media policy will also help the organization to protect its reputation, goodwill, and increase employee advocacy.

This Policy is a one-sided agreement drafted by the organization without any negotiation with the employees, and employees will have only the option to sign and acknowledge the same.

This policy can be used by any type of organization despite their size or type of business and can be used as a supplementary document to Employment Agreement, Employee Code of Conduct Policy, Non-Compete Agreement, Remote Work Policy, and Employee Privacy Policy.

How to use this document?

The policy covers the following important areas:

• Rules for use of social media: this covers the important rules to be followed by every representative of the organization. Including using personal social media accounts while on duty, mentioning the relationship of the personnel with the organization, restrictions, and guidelines on social media generally and when mentioning the organization, and social media etiquettes to be followed, etc.
• Duties of the organization's online spokesperson: the rules and procedures to be followed by the official representative of the organization or such authorized person representing the company on social media platforms. This includes the verification of facts before posting, prohibited matters, keeping records of online dealings, etc.
• Media policy: the details of the person who is allowed to respond to any media queries about the organization.
• Reporting: the procedures to be followed in case any person comes across any derogatory or negative post about the organization.
• Confidentiality: the confidentiality obligations of the person using social media. Confidentiality obligations cover the rights of both the internal and external stakeholders of the organization.
• IP rights: duties and care to be taken by the representatives to not infringe anyone's IP rights including copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, etc.
• Ownership of media account and contents: this specifies who owns the official social media accounts and their contents.
• Breach of this policy: this covers the rights of the organization to monitor the online activities of the representatives to ensure adherence to this policy and the actions taken in case of any violation.

Once the policy is drafted, it can be circulated to the employees through electronic medium or in physical copies. The organization may ask the employees to acknowledge this policy and send it back for record purposes.

It is always better to make the policy accessible to all employees of the organization and update them whenever there are any changes made to this policy.

Applicable laws

The social media dealing will be covered under the Information Act of 2000 and rules enacted thereunder.

How to modify the template?

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.