Social Media Policy

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Social Media Policy
1.What does this policy cover and who is covered?
This policy explains your responsibilities when you use social media, both on our business
premises and in your own time. It confirms that Market Bosworth Society] may monitor your use
of social media, the internet and any other IT or IT-related device usage by you, to verify your
compliance with our policy.
For the purposes of this policy, social media means and includes:
a) websites and applications where users are able to create and share content and/or take part
in online networking. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
● Facebook
● Instagram
● YouTube
● Twitter
● LinkedIn
● Pinterest
● Google+
● Flickr
● Slack
● Tumblr
● Reddit
● Shapr
(These are some of the most common examples; however, this policy covers all social media,
including any and all new variations and offerings, as these come into existence)
b) personal blogs
c) any posts you might make on other people’s blogs, and
d) all online forums and noticeboards.
Besides creating social media posts directly, ‘posting’ for these purposes additionally includes
retweeting/re-circulating, or otherwise sharing third party posted content, commenting on a
third party’s post or liking it. This also includes the scheduling of posts on any social media
scheduling services such as Hootsuite, HiPlay or Buffer, for example.
By using our IT resources and systems, as well as any devices provided to you by us and which
enable your access to and use of our IT resources and systems, you consent, on each and every
usage, to our monitoring activity.
Failure to comply with this policy may lead to action being taken by Market Bosworth Society]
against you, under our Disciplinary Policy, which in the case of serious breaches, may result in
your dismissal from the business on grounds of gross misconduct.
We will require you to remove any social media or other postings which you publish or place in
breach of this policy. If you refuse or fail to do so, this will be treated by us as a serious disciplinary
matter under our Disciplinary Policy.
You may also face legal proceedings from Market Bosworth Society] and potentially affected third
parties as well, if your social media, internet usage or other IT activity causes harm to our business
or to its reputation, is offensive or derogatory or discloses confidential information, and/or to
other named individuals whose reputations are damaged by your actions.
You should contact info@marketbosworthsociety.com if you find anything posted to a social
media site that breaches this policy or otherwise brings Market Bosworth Society] into disrepute.
Who does it apply to?
All Market Bosworth Society]’s employees and anyone else working for Market Bosworth Society].
It is not part of your employment contract
This policy is not part of your employment contract. We, Market Bosworth Society may amend
this policy at any time.
Use of social media at work
You are not permitted to use your own IT equipment – your personal phone, for example – to
access social media during working hours either.
If you are not authorised to post content on the social media accounts belonging to Market
Bosworth Society], you must not to do so without express approval in advance from Market
Bosworth Society.
If you are authorised to post content to our accounts, your access will be stopped immediately if
you abuse this policy in any way (including by providing access to our accounts to any third parties
without approval from Market Bosworth Society.
Those leaving Market Bosworth Society] will be asked for their user names and passwords and
their accounts and/or access permissions will be revoked.
If you are authorised to access and/or post to our accounts, we may ask you to provide us with
your user names and passwords and you will be expected to promptly comply with such requests
or face disciplinary action.
Your social media obligations and responsibilities
It is your duty to protect Market Bosworth Society]’s interests. This means, for example, (but not
exhaustively) that:
General obligations
a) You must not publish anything that could directly or indirectly damage these interests or that
might compromise our reputation
b) If you are ever unsure about the appropriateness of a publication, whether it complies with this
policy and/or whether it is necessary, you should seek prior views and approval to publish from
[Market Bosworth Society before taking any further action, and absolutely before posting that
content.
c) Unless you have been specifically authorised to do so, and the content of your communication
has been approved by Market Bosworth Society, you must not speak on behalf of Market
Bosworth Society] or indeed, on behalf of any other person within our business or connected with
it.
d) Social media is generally a public resource – and one where posts can be freely and rapidly shared,
often without material moderation, control or constraint. You should assume that anything you
publish anywhere will sooner or later reach the public domain. When you share content posted
by others, remember that you may be seen as giving tacit approval to opinions that could bring
the Company into disrepute.
e) Always respect copyright, and always check whether or not a third party’s content is provided
before you reuse or repost it.
What and how you post
f)Anything you post must be accurate and lawful.
g) You must not publish any of Market Bosworth Society]’s trading secrets and confidential
information. This includes not posting anything that relates, for example (and non-exhaustively),
to any of the following:
● Market Bosworth Society]’s intellectual property
● Market Bosworth Society]’s trade secrets
● unpublished details of Market Bosworth Society]’s current or future trading performance
● information of any description that is clearly intended for internal use only
● Anything else that is not already in the public domain (and not as a result of you having
unlawfully leaked or disclosed it)
h) It must be clear at all times that unless (with prior permission from Market Bosworth Society to
do so), you are posting on behalf of our business and for the purpose of relating our business’
position on something specific, any opinions you express are your own and that you are not
speaking on Market Bosworth Society]’s behalf.
You are personally responsible for your own social media accounts and any and all content that
may be posted on or linked to them.
For your own social accounts, you must use your personal email address and contact details, not
your work email address or any other contact details that we provide to you so that you can be
contacted at work.

There must never be any confusion between any personal social media account belonging to you
and any of our business accounts.
We also insist that you never use our logo, trademark, or other corporate artwork in anything you
post or as part of any of your social media profiles, unless you have our express consent to do so,
in advance of any publication.
m) You remain at all times a representative of and ambassador for our business. This means that you
must ensure your profiles and postings are at all times appropriate and not in any way at risk of
bringing our business into disrepute or any controversy. (Even if you do not name us as your
employer, people who know you and where you work may still make an unwelcome association
with Market Bosworth Society] if your social media activity is unprofessional and/or damaging to
us. If you are in any doubt about what is and is not acceptable, please talk to Market Bosworth
Society.)
Your tone of voice and the importance of being respectful
n) Many people use social media in a personal capacity to have a rant. Take care when engaging in
any such public outbursts that you are not damaging both your personal and our business
reputations for professionalism and moderation. Do not criticise Market Bosworth Society] or
any other business or individual (including our suppliers, clients, business associates or your
colleagues).
o) Be respectful of others when using social media. Just as in the workplace and during working
hours, where we do not tolerate bullying or harassment and unfair discrimination on any
grounds, we also do not tolerate it on social media either. You must not engage in activities on
social media which would breach not just this policy, but also our other policies, including
especially our Equal Opportunities and Diversity policy and our Bullying and Harassment policy.
You must familiarise yourself with these policies, so that you understand the types of conduct
that we prohibit, including on social media. Examples of these prohibited actions include:
● Making unlawful or disrespectful comments
● Using abusive or threatening language
● Posting sexually explicit language or images
● Publishing false or misleading statements
● Trolling (starting or pursuing arguments in an online community with the intention of
disrupting normal discussions within that community)
● Impersonating your colleagues or third parties
● Inciting somebody to commit a crime
 If you are being bullied, harassed or otherwise victimised on social media by another Market
Bosworth Society] worker, you must follow the process laid out in our Harassment and Bullying
Policy.
Be respectful of our business also. We will not tolerate the airing of grievances about our
business or any of its activities on social media. If you want to make a complaint, you should use
our internal process, raising it first with Market Bosworth Society If your concern remains
unresolved, you must then follow our Grievance Policy.
Images and other people’s personal details

Consent to the posting of any photographic or video graphic images containing colleagues and/or
other people must have the express consent of those persons to be a part of this posting. Do not
publish without this consent.
s) Do not publish any other images where you have not first acquired any and all permissions
(including copyright) to do so

Do not publish any person’s personal details unless you have their express consent to do so (as
well as the consent of Market Bosworth Society, if applicable), and this is strictly necessary for
the legitimate business objective underpinning the posting.
Please note that all decisions will be made by the Committee of the Market Bosworth Society and no
delegation will be permitted.
A full list of the current Committee members and their contact details are available at
www.marketbosworthsociety.com.

Reviewed 9th April 2025

Next Review November 2030