Social media has evolved into a powerful and widely used means of communication. An Taisce considers social media as a valuable means of communication both between members and between members and the general public. Widely used networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tik Tok etc provide well established instruments for projecting the brand of An Taisce as well as providing tools for conveying news and generating discussions about current topics of interest to the Association.

It is important when participating in social media to respect and adhere to agreed guidelines in order to protect both individuals’ and An Taisce’s interests. It is the purpose of this policy to provide such guidelines.

Policy Guidelines

1. Any sites using the An Taisce brand shall only be established by authorised members. This will be confined to Board office holders, the Executive management, and the Chairs of Local Associations. Under no circumstances should a member set up anonymous social media accounts linked to the Association.
2. The authorised individuals specified above may at any time remove or suspend the website concerned as a result of concerns regarding its use.
3. Users must not use social media to criticise, undermine, harass, bully or abuse individuals e.g. by:

• Posting seriously offensive, derogatory or defamatory remarks
• By making statements which could be construed as bullying, intimidating or harassing others
• By posting comments or material which are hateful, libellous, slanderous, threatening, extremist, discriminatory or of an overtly sexual nature;
• By uploading inappropriate images.
• By actions which are detrimental to the reputation of the Association.

4. Members should ensure that in using social media outlets they do not reveal confidential information or personal data which could be detrimental to the Association or other members.
5. In accordance with the guidance note (Feb 2018) issued by the Charities Regulator under section 14 of the Charities Act 2009, An Taisce has a charitable purpose only. An Taisce engages in political activities or promotes a political cause only where that relates directly to the advancement of our charitable purpose. It does not endorse any political party or candidate. Accordingly, partisan political content should never be shared on any An Taisce social media platform.

Where the guidelines are not followed or are breached, this may be regarded as non-compliance with An Taisce’s Code of Conduct and may result in immediate disciplinary action being taken under Section 8 of the Code of Conduct.