CIPR’s Social Media guidelines

Social media like this blog, MySpace, YouTube and much more appear to throw up many ethical dilemmas that threaten previous ways of working and the codes of conduct that police them. But in truth the fundamental principles that guide those codes of conduct still hold firm and so the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is right to be looking to issue a guide to best practice in this arena, rather than an addition to the existing code of conduct.

That existing code draws strength from being relatively simply built around three key principles: integrity, competence and confidentiality.

The new best practice guidelines are certain to demand us to be as open and honest when working online as we are when working offline. Use of social media should be transparent. There is no room for anonymous blogs of plots, rumours and conspiracy, no time for Astroturfing. Most importantly of all, we must take responsibility for what we write.

The social media have the effect of making a great many individuals publishers in the eyes of the law, working within the same legal framework as major international media conglomerates. The CIPR’s consultation paper refers to a number of bloggers who have lost employment as a consequence of their activities. Businesses have suffered following asides posted on MySpace by employees. The issuing of guidance to employees who blog will soon be recognised as the best protection for all concerned and become the norm.

Nevertheless, it will be quite sometime before social media, especially blogs, accept that online behaviour should be ethical and there will always be those who seek to use the new technologies maliciously. There are people who openly hide (pardon the apparent contradiction) behind a cloak of anonymity to boast of how they plan to ‘scalp’ those they oppose without offering any effective means of redress. In these circumstances, I believe it is in the spirit of the CIPR’s code of conduct to expose those unethical individuals in the wider public interest and to save the reputation of the medium.
Contact Stephen Newton

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