Introduction
As well as being an important tool for individuals in their professional roles for the BBC, social media plays a key role for content teams in reaching and engaging with different audiences.
The Editorial Guidelines govern all branded activity in these spaces just as they do for on platform activity. This Guidance explains how and where they should be applied.
Use of platforms
Social media platforms differ widely in the functionality they offer, the audiences they appeal to and risks inherent in the BBC’s activity on them.
Before deciding to start any BBC activity on a third party platform we should consider the editorial purpose, the appropriateness of the platform for the audience and whether we have the resources to manage the account appropriately. Our choice of third party sites must not bring the BBC into disrepute. Advice should be sought from Editorial Policy.
Where we want to use a new platform we should also take into account and take advice from Editorial Policy and legal on the terms and conditions of the platform, any contractual, legal, data protection or information security issues.
We should communicate clearly with audiences when we close an account, informing them that the account will no longer be updated or moderated and pointing them to an alternative source. We should be aware that content on our social channels is still part of the BBC archive, so the presumption should be that the account is not deleted and remains accessible.
We should be transparent about errors, corrections and apologies on all BBC branded social media accounts. We should ensure we connect the correction or apology speedily and clearly with the original error.
Ensuring Impartiality on social media
Maintaining due impartiality in our content and activity on social media is as important as on our own platforms. We need to consider carefully the specific challenges posed by each platform in achieving due impartiality.
We must ensure that use of hashtags to aggregate our content and join in social conversations doesn’t support or allow us to appear to be supporting a cause, promoting a brand, or point of view no matter how apparently worthy the cause or how much their message appears to be accepted or uncontroversial.
While it is possible to publish personal view content or reflect a range of opinion on controversial subjects, the serendipitous nature of social feeds and the nature of the algorithm that drives them, means that audiences may not always come across the full range of content we have produced on these subjects.
We should normally link connected content and signpost content that might reflect a range of views on the same subject where it is appropriate. Just as with our own platforms, each social account should take responsibility for ensuring due impartiality across its output.
We should ensure our social media posts – whether text or video - contain appropriate context. Each piece of content should be judged on its own merit, unless the posts are threaded or similarly linked. Be aware of the risks that short headlines, tweets or the pressure to create shareable content pose to publishing impartial or accurate content.
We should be particularly careful to ensure impartiality in all aspects of social media activity during election campaigns and refer to BBC election guidelines.
We should be duly impartial in our choice of accounts to follow. Similarly, due impartiality is required when it comes to sharing of content or liking content published by others.
We should remember that social media platforms, including our accounts, reflect particular demographics. Opinion gathered from these accounts either through functionality offered by each platform or anecdotally, can never be statistically robust or genuinely representative and should only be used as vox pops.
Similarly, functionality that platforms describe as ‘polling’ – where users can choose from a range of options – has no statistical credibility and should only ever be used as a tool for audience engagement. Results should not normally generate any significant outcomes or be used beyond the platform itself without referring to ITACU or Editorial Policy.
Calls to action or appeals for contributors through social media will reflect the same issues – that they will be dependent on the particular demographic of the platforms and accounts used. Any call to action must be neutrally phrased to avoid accusations of bias.
Audience Expectations
Audiences expect BBC run spaces on third party platforms to reflect similar values to our on platform brand activity within the context of the tone and style of the particular social media site in question.
BBC brands will have their own identity, familiar to their audiences, which they should be able to express through the content they share and the conversations they have. They should use the same G for Guidance warnings on content that we use on our sites.
Be mindful of the potentially harmful impact of graphic images used as thumbnails or hero images on posts that can appear in users’ timelines without warning or context. Similarly, consider carefully the impact of offensive language or images in the opening moments of a video posted to social media.
Although each platform has its own terms and conditions governing user behaviour, we should not rely entirely on the platforms themselves to manage communities on BBC spaces. We need to take overall responsibility and ensure user behaviour is in line with audience expectations for individual BBC brands.
Moderation of comment threads should generally be light touch but abusive behaviour will not be tolerated, particularly when it takes the form of personal attacks or offensive language.
We should be aware of any potential legal risks posed by any comments sparked by content, including hate speech and defamation or contempt of court. We might turn off comments on sites where we can; not post risky content on sites where comments cannot be blocked; or ensure we have additional moderation resources for potentially difficult content. Advice should be sought from Editorial Policy and Legal.
We should accommodate the widest possible range of opinions consistent with our duty of care, appropriate language and behaviour, and the law. We should include, where it is offered, appropriate comment that is critical of the BBC, talent, programmes or policies but not abusive behaviour. Blocking users from our accounts should be a last resort and advice should be sought from Editorial Policy.
Duty of Care
We should consider whether we should post particular content where we think it could put contributors at risk of significant harm – particularly when they are young or vulnerable.
We should take account of the potential impact of harmful comment, of content being widely shared or of the possibility of individuals being identified even where we have taken steps to anonymise them.
When we decide to post such content we should provide contributors with the necessary support and ensure that we are using appropriate key word filters and moderation to minimise the potential harm. Always seek advice from the Moderation Services Team and Editorial Policy.
Escalation strategies should be in place for cases of suspected child grooming, threat to life, serious sexual assault or to avoid serious harm. We should also be prepared to respond to continued harassment of individuals, including people who work for the BBC. Advice can be sought from Editorial Policy and the Safety, Security and Resilience team.
Whenever our content requires pointing audience to support lines we should include that on each piece of content even if it is part of an extended series. Links to helplines can be included on any video or in the supporting text. Editorial Policy advice must be sought before applying support lines to content.
Children and young people
Children and young people have a right to a voice on the BBC’s social media channels, but we should ensure that they are able to operate in a safe and appropriate environment. If we cannot be sure publication is not in the best interests of such contributors, even with the consent of parents or guardians, we may choose not to publish that content on social media.
We should abide by the terms and conditions of third party platforms – especially in relation to the minimum age for use. If we create spaces aimed at a young teenage audience, for example 13-16, we should take particular care to ensure the platform we use and the behaviour in the BBC space remains appropriate so that it remains a safe environment. Our networks, programmes and channels have a distinct tone of voice and we should only ever communicate with children and young people on social media using these BBC channels, never in an individual capacity.
Last updated November 2020
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- Social Media - BBC programme, brand and genre accounts13 November 2020