Social media terms of use

Social media is the collective term given to web-based tools and applications which enable users to create, share and interact with content (words, images and videos), as well as network with each other through the sharing of information, opinions, knowledge and common interests. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Social media is essential to the success of communicating Scouts’ work: to further our charity’s purpose, promote our work, support our fundraising goals and participate in campaigns. It is important for designated staff and volunteers to participate in social media to openly share how Scouts supports young people and volunteers, participate in relevant conversations and raise the profile of Scouts' work.

Building an engaged online community can lead to more significant long-term support and involvement from supporters. Social media guidance from the Charity Commission (September 2023) conveys how social media can be a highly effective way for a charity to engage its audiences and communicate about its work.

• Support our members by sharing our news and updates
• Grow our membership
• Build a supportive online community
• Raise our public profile and strengthen our reputation
• Engage in conversations with stakeholders
• Celebrate young people’s and volunteers’ successes
• Raise awareness of issues and challenges affecting Scouts
• Attract talent to job and volunteering opportunities
• Generate income through our fundraising activities
• Respond to quickly changing situations and topics

Social media is a fast-moving online world, where nuance and context can be easily lost. While social media brings the Scouts to a wide audience, it can also present risks. We want to ensure that all staff and volunteers using social media represent and reflect Scouts in the best way possible. It is also important to mitigate risks such as reputational or legal concerns associated with the use of social media to protect our volunteers, supporters, staff, work and reputation.

We encourage the use of social media to support our communications strategy, and we have important standards, outlined in this policy, which we require everyone to observe and adhere to. The difference between a personal and professional opinion can be blurred on social media, particularly if you're discussing issues relating to Scouts. Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations and is subject to the same laws as other kinds of publication or commentary in the public domain.

Failure to comply with this policy could expose Scouts to reputational risks as well as putting staff, volunteers, and members at risk.

This policy is intended for all staff members of all levels (including consultants and freelancers), HQ volunteers and Trustees, and applies to content posted on both official Scouts’ social media accounts and personal social media accounts. Before engaging in Scouts-related social media, staff and HQ volunteers must read this policy.

This is mainly when posting about Scouts but it also covers situations where personal use becomes associated with Scouts. It sets out what you need to be aware of when interacting in these spaces. This is designed to help us all support and expand who Scouts reach through our Scouts-branded social media channels, while shaping the charity’s reputation and preventing any legal issues.

This policy also applies to online blogs, wikis, podcasts, forums, and messaging based apps, such as WhatsApp. Social media can be accessed in various ways, including from a desktop or laptop computer, tablet or smartphone. This policy applies to the use of all such devices.

There are currently no access restrictions to social media websites in the Scouts offices or from our Scouts laptops. When using the internet for Scouts work, it is important that staff refer to our Acceptable Usage policy. You are permitted to make reasonable and appropriate use of personal social media activity during your breaks. But usage should not be excessive and interfere with your duties.

Scouts uses the following social media channels as part of building visibility for and engagement with our brand:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/scoutassociation

Scouts uses Facebook to share news, activities and programme resources for volunteers and parents as well as to share stories from our Movement. Scouts also use Facebook to reach new audiences to consider joining, supporting or buying from Scouts, and to recruit new adult volunteers.

X, formerly Twitter https://x.com/scouts

Scouts uses X to share news, programme resources with volunteers as well as to share stories from the Movement with adult volunteers and stakeholders.

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/scouts/

Scouts uses Instagram to share news, activities and programme resources as well as to share stories from the Movement with parents and volunteers aged 18-35.

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/scoutsuk/

Scouts uses LinkedIn to share key volunteer vacancies and news stories about corporate partners and funders with existing and potential adult volunteers. Scouts also uses LinkedIn to recruit paid vacancies.

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@UKScouts/featured

Scout uses YouTube to share programme activities and resources for adult volunteers and parents. Scouts share activities and how-to videos that have potential to reach new audiences through search.

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@scoutsuk

Scouts uses TikTok to share videos that demonstrate skills gained through Scouts by young people. Scouts also responds to relevant trends to reach new audiences, particularly younger adults.

1. The Social Media team is responsible for setting up and managing Scouts' social media channels. Only those authorised to do so by the Social Media Manager have access to these accounts.
2. The Social Media Officer monitors and responds to comments Monday – Friday 9am-5pm and evening and weekends are shared between the Social Media Manager and the Social Media Officer.
3. The social media team is responsible for the day-to-day publishing, monitoring and managing our social media channels. If you have specific questions about any aspect of these channels, speak to the Social Media Manager.
4. The Recruitment Team have access to our LinkedIn company page to advertise and promote paid vacancies.
5. No other staff member can post content on the Scout’s official channels without the permission of the Social Media Manager.

The Social Media team has overall ownership of these accounts and only those authorised to do so by the Social Media Manager will have access to these accounts.

The Social Media team will uphold best practices for channel security with secure passwords that regularly change. Never give out the passwords for our channels without express permission from the Social Media Manager.

Staff and volunteers must ensure they reflect Scouts values in what they post and use our tone of voice. Our brand guidelines set out how we talk and all staff and volunteers should refer to when posting content on Scouts' social media channels. Please note only the Social Media team is permitted to respond to comments on our social media posts on behalf of the organisation. All posts and comments should be attributed to Scouts and not an individual. In special cases it may be appropriate for a staff member or volunteer to make an individual comment on Scouts channels as themselves, under the supervision, and with the approval, of the Social Media Manager.

When posting from Scouts social media accounts, the Social Media Team must respond to comments in the voice of our charity and not allow your own personal opinions to influence responses. Staff and volunteers must not post content that is harmful, offensive, discriminatory, or defamatory. Staff must not reveal their personal opinions via our accounts by 'liking', 'sharing' or 'reposting' as Scouts unless it is clear that you are doing so as an individual staff member or volunteer as part of an approach agreed with the Social Media team (eg as part of a ‘takeover’ of Scouts Instagram account). If you are in doubt about Scouts’ position on a particular issue, please speak to the Head of Communications.

Staff or volunteers must not create or manage any other social media channels, groups or pages on behalf of Scouts without express permission from Head of Communications and Social Media Manager and training. This is to ensure brand consistency for users and the appropriate safeguarding and monitoring processes are in place.

Staff and volunteers must make sure that all social media content has a purpose and a benefit for Scouts to further our charitable purposes (either directly or indirectly, by engaging stakeholders and building our brand using our strategy). All content must accurately reflect Scouts’ agreed position. See our organisational strategy page.

Those responsible for the management of our social media accounts should answer questions as swiftly as possible to help and engage with our service users and supporters. Make sure that all social media content has a purpose and a benefit for Scouts, and accurately reflects Scouts' position.

If staff or volunteers outside of the Social Media Team wish to contribute content for social media, whether non-paid (organic) for or paid for advertising, they should obtain guidance and permission from the Social Media Manager with enough time to plan it.

Staff and volunteers must not post content about supporters, service users or partners without their, or their guardian’s, express permission in writing. If staff or volunteers are sharing information about supporters, service users or third party organisations, this content should be clearly labelled so our audiences know it has not come directly from Scouts. If using interviews, videos or photos that clearly identify a child or young person, staff and volunteers must ensure they have written consent of a parent or guardian before using them on social media.

It can be challenging working on social media and there may be times where staff or volunteers could be subject to unpleasant or abusive comments directed at the charity, our work or people. We encourage everyone who is on social media on behalf of Scouts to be aware of safeguarding and wellbeing practices to deal with online abuse and consult with Safety, Safeguarding and Social Media Teams where necessary.

It is also vital that Scouts does not encourage others to risk their personal safety or that of others, to gather materials in pursuit of social media engagement. For example, a video of a stunt or visiting an unsafe location.

Staff and volunteers must not encourage people to break the law to supply material for social media, such as using unauthorised video footage. All relevant rights for usage must be obtained before publishing material.

Scouts is not associated with any political organisation nor any affiliation with or links to political parties. We can express views where appropriate on policies that impact our work and service users, but it is essential that Scouts remains, and is seen to be, politically neutral.

We cannot endorse a political party or candidate. We must carefully manage the risk that we are perceived to have any party-political bias and should carefully consider any posts which might be perceived as such, for example, posts which talk about individual politicians or parties rather than policies. Please refer to our Community Impact and Political Campaigning guidance.

Staff and volunteers should not automatically assume that material that’s shared or included in any post is accurate and should take reasonable steps where necessary to seek verification – for example, by checking data/statistics and being wary of photo manipulation. If you've made a mistake, don't be afraid to admit it. But think first about how to manage any risk to Scouts and our brand by consulting with Head of Communications to craft the response.

If a complaint is made on Scouts social media channels, staff and volunteers should seek advice from the Social Media team before responding. If they are not available, then staff and volunteers should speak to the Head of Communications or Support Centre.

Follow the Yellow Card Safeguarding Code of Conduct for adults which says “Do not plan to be alone with a child or young person in Scouts, either online or in person”. This includes 1:1 contact on social media channels.

The nature of social media means that complaints and concerns are visible and demand a timely response. When a complaint is made on Scouts' social media channels as a public comment or reply, the Social Media team should seek advice from the appropriate colleagues/ teams to help respond quickly and accurately. At times this may require pausing all planned posts. Concerns from staff and volunteers can be raised with the Social Media team initially. If they are not available, then staff and volunteers should speak to the Head of Communications. The Support Centre manage inbox messages for all social media profiles and can offer support and guidance when responding to queries and concerns.

Comments on social media need a particularly swift response because they may sensitive or reveal members are at risk, for example safeguarding concerns posted as a comment. Not acting can be detrimental to our members.

Scouts’ Social Media Terms of Use explain how we manage comments and interactions on our social media pages; any comments that breach these terms of use, including comments considered spam, will be removed by the Social Media team. Additionally, as required on a case-by-case basis, social listening may be outsourced to third party providers.

The Social Media team regularly monitors our social media spaces for mentions of Scouts so we can catch any complaints and concerns early. If there is a concern that may need support from other teams, the Social Media team will: notify of new issues or developments with key team members including Head of Communications and Head of Media, monitor mentions and comments across owned social media and escalate and report as necessary. Any concerns posted on social media pertaining to Safeguarding or Safety are escalated with these teams immediately. All serious incidents will be reported to the the Charity Commission on behalf of the Board of Trustees.

If any staff and volunteers become aware of any comments online that they think have the potential to escalate, on Scouts’ social media channels or elsewhere, they should speak to the Social Media Manager immediately who will follow the escalation process. It is the responsibility of all staff and volunteers to report complaints or comments that could escalate into a crisis or have serious implications for Scouts. Only the Social Media team is permitted to amend or delete content.

Any announcements shared on social media should be worked on with Communications, Media and Social Media teams and signed off by the Executive Director for Marketing and Fundraising. No announcements or statements may be posted without approval.

AI can be a valuable tool to support communications. However, staff and volunteers must ensure AI-created content adheres to our brand guidelines. You must seek permission from the Creative Lead before using AI and clearly state where creative content (images and videos) is AI generated. You must also ensure that you consult our AI Policy and AI Guidance before selecting and using any AI tools/applications and ensure that you have considered the potential risks arising from using AI tools and the content they generate. For example, AI generated images that resemble or replicate copyrighted or trademarked artwork or logos without proper licensing can lead to legal disputes and intellectual property infringements.

You must hand over ownership of the group/page/account you manage to another appropriate staff member (or volunteer) if you change roles or if you leave Scouts.

Be aware that any information you make public could affect how people perceive Scouts. You must make it clear when you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of Scouts. If you are using your personal social media accounts to promote and talk about Scouts' work, you must use a disclaimer such as: “Views are my own” or "The views expressed on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Scouts' positions, policies or opinions."

Those in senior management including trustees and public-facing or specialist roles where they are well known in their field of expertise, must take particular care as personal views published may be misunderstood as expressing Scouts’ view.

For senior roles, we expect you to take additional steps, such as:

• Being aware of your duties and responsibilities.
• Consulting Scouts’ messaging and crisis plans, being particularly cautious in how your communications as a leading figure for Scouts may be interpreted.
• Avoiding posting material which might be construed as contrary to or conflicting with Scouts’ mission or work.
• Ensuring you do not refer to the charity by name on your personal accounts on social media (eg ‘CEO at a children’s charity’ rather than the charity’s name), unless you are using an account as if it were Scouts’ own social media account (in line with the first section of the policy).

Staff, volunteers and Trustees who have a personal blog, social media profile or website which indicates in any way that they work or volunteer at Scouts should discuss any potential risk or conflicts of interest with their line manager and the Communications team.

Think about your personal reputation as well as the reputation of Scouts’. Remember our values of respect, care, collaboration, belief and integrity. Express your opinions and deal with differences of opinion respectfully. Don't insult people or treat them badly. Passionate discussions and debates are fine, but you should always be respectful of others and their opinions. Be the first to correct your own mistakes.

Remember that if you have a public profile with Scouts, your personal social media accounts could be looked at by both supporters and critics of Scouts, and bear this in mind when posting.

Be aware of your association with Scouts and ensure your profile and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself to the public, members, colleagues, partners and funders.

Scouts works with several high-profile organisations and individuals, including the Royal Household, celebrities, social media influencers, journalists, politicians, and major donors. Don’t approach high profile people or organisations from your personal social media accounts to ask them to support Scouts, as this could hinder how relationships are being managed by our Brand and Ambassador Manager. This includes asking for reposts about Scouts.

If you have any information about high profile people or organisations that have a connection to Scouts, or if there is someone who you would like to support Scouts, please speak to the Brand and Ambassador Manager to share the details.

If a staff member or volunteer is contacted by the press about their social media posts that relate to Scouts, they should talk to the Media team immediately (Media Team contact details). You must seek advice from the media team before responding to the press on social.

When representing Scouts, staff and volunteers are expected to uphold Scouts’ positioning (see Community impact and political campaigning guidance). Staff and volunteers who are politically active in their spare time need to be clear in separating their personal political identity from Scouts and understand and avoid potential risks and conflicts of interest. Staff should also inform their line manager and the Policy and Public Affairs team about any such political activity, and Trustees should inform the Chair. As set out in point two above, senior staff and Trustees should take particular care.

Be careful with your privacy online and be cautious when sharing personal information. Remember that a simple ‘like’ can draw attention to your personal accounts. What you publish is widely accessible and could be around for a long time, so do consider the content, and your privacy, carefully.

All staff and volunteers who wish to engage with any of Scouts’ social media platforms are strongly advised to ensure that they set the privacy levels of their personal sites as strictly as they can and to opt out of public listings on social networking sites to protect their own privacy. All staff and volunteers should keep their passwords confidential and change them often.

In their own interests, staff and volunteers should be aware of the dangers of putting personal information onto social networking sites, such as addresses, home and mobile phone numbers.

We encourage staff and volunteers to share our posts. When online in a personal capacity, you might also see opportunities to comment on or support Scouts’ work. Where appropriate and using the guidelines within this policy we encourage staff and volunteers to do this as it helps users connect to us and raises our profile.

At the same time, take care to think about Scouts’ reputation. If your personal social media account is not professional or otherwise appropriate for our audiences, please do not use it to amplify or promote our work, as to do so brings risks both to you personally and to Scouts. Similarly, if the content is controversial or misrepresented, please highlight this to the Communications and Social Media teams who will respond as appropriate.

Only use non-localised UK Scouts’ logos and/or trademarks in official Scouts social media content. All content created must follow our brand guidelines and the relevant guidance in POR. Avoid using UK (non-localised) Scouts logos and/or trademarks in content created for personal social media accounts as this could imply the content is created and approved at a national level.

Volunteers can use logos and trademarks following the relevant guidance in POR. For further advice, contact the Brand and Ambassadors Manager. No member of staff or volunteer can authorise the use of a Scout logo or trademark to endorse non-Scout content, another business or organisation without first consulting the Brand and Ambassadors Manager and Head of Corporate Partnerships. Logos and trademarks belonging to other brands (including our partners) should be used and published only with written agreement from the partner organisation.

It can be challenging working on social media and there may be times where staff and volunteers could be subject to unpleasant or abusive comments directed at the charity, our work or people. We encourage everyone who is on social media to be aware of safeguarding and wellbeing practices to deal with online abuse and consult with the Social Media Manager where necessary.

Staff and volunteers should be vigilant regarding suspicious content or links and must not reveal personal, confidential or sensitive information about themselves, other staff members, volunteers or supporters of Scouts. Staff and volunteers should vigilant of fake accounts that may claim to be Scouts and should immediately notify the Social Media team.

Care must also be taken to ensure that any links to external sites from our social media accounts are appropriate and safe. For more information, please see our Data Protection Policy.

Please consult our relevant policies and procedures for the safeguarding of our staff and volunteers: Safeguarding Policy.

Defamation is when a false written statement that is damaging to a person's reputation is published online (including but not limited to Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, Snapchat post) or in print (such as in newspapers, magazine and other media publications). Whether staff are posting content on social media as part of their job or in a personal capacity, they should not bring Scouts into disrepute by making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations or groups.

It is critical that all staff abide by the laws governing copyright, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Never use or adapt someone else's images or written content without permission. Failing to acknowledge the source/author/resource citation, where permission has been given to reproduce content, is also considered a breach of copyright.

Any communications that staff make in a personal capacity must not breach confidentiality. For example, information meant for internal use only or information that Scouts is not ready to disclose yet such as an embargoed news story or information from people who the charity has worked with which is private. Please refer to our Information Handling policy for further information.

Staff and volunteers should not post content that could be considered discriminatory against, or bullying or harassment of, any individual, on either an official Scouts social media channel or a personal account. For example:

• making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief
• using social media to bully another individual
• posting images that are discriminatory or offensive or links to such content

In line with Scouts’ equity, diversity and inclusion policy, we endeavour to ensure our social media is as accessible as possible. This includes:

• Using plain English, accessible fonts and avoiding small text sizes
• Using contrasting colours
• Using subtitles where appropriate
• Using alt text for videos and images
• Explaining text contained in an image in the copy that accompanies it
• Following our brand guidelines which have been designed to be accessible.

Charities are legally allowed to campaign to bring about a change in policy or law to further their organisational purpose but can never be party political. In most cases, spending on charity campaigns that are in accordance with charity law will not be regulated under electoral law (often known as the ‘Lobbying Act’).

Under the Lobbying Act, organisations (including charities which spend more than £10,000 across the UK on ‘regulated activity’ during the regulated period need to register with the Electoral Commission within the outlined windows for elections.

Regulated activity is any activity which could reasonably be seen as intended to influence people's voting choice, either for parties or candidates (which a charity could never do) or for categories of candidates (eg female candidates, or candidates who support Net Zero). During these periods, all campaigning activity will be reviewed by the Head of Policy and Public Affairs.

Recruitment should be carried out in accordance with the Scouts’ Recruitment and Selection Policy and associated procedures and guidelines. All vacancy advertisements are managed through the People team. Vacancies are shared routinely on the LinkedIn company page. Staff and volunteers are encouraged to share both paid and volunteer vacancies with their networks from their personal LinkedIn accounts.

There should be no systematic or routine checking of candidate's online social media activities during the recruitment process, as conducting these searches might lead to a presumption that an applicant's protected characteristics, such as religious beliefs or sexual orientation, played a part in a recruitment decision. This is in line with Scouts’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

Our social media platforms play an important role in our fundraising efforts and engaging with our donors. Before using our social media channels for fundraising purposes, staff and volunteers should ensure we adhere to The Code of Fundraising Practices.

The responsibility for measures of protection and intervention lies first with the social networking site itself. Different social networking sites offer different models of interventions in different areas. For more information, refer to the guidance available on the social networking site itself. For example, Facebook allows you to report a post or comment using the three dots in the top right corner of a post or to the right of a comment. If a staff member or volunteer considers that someone is at risk of harm, they should report this to the Safeguarding team immediately.

Children and young and vulnerable people face risks when using social networking sites. They may be at risk of being bullied, publishing sensitive and personal information on their profiles, or becoming targets for online grooming.

Staff and volunteers must follow the Yellow Card Safeguarding Code of Conduct for adults and must not plan to be alone with a child or young person in Scouts, either online or in person. Staff and volunteers should ensure that young people have been made aware of the risks of communicating and sharing information online and given guidance on security/privacy settings as necessary. Staff should also ensure that the site itself is suitable for the young person and Scouts’ content and other content is appropriate for them.

Adult volunteers need to be especially careful about those they accept as ‘friends’ or ‘followers’ on social media. These sites are essentially designed for peer-to-peer contact and often enable 1:1 messaging.

Scouts may be involved in issues that provoke strong emotions. The emotive content we share via our social media channels can engage our audiences and help us achieve our communications goals. However, it is important to plan appropriately and consider potential reputational risks to Scouts. For more information, visit the government resource called charities and social media.

Everyone is responsible for their own compliance with this policy. Participation in social media on behalf of Scouts as a member of staff must be treated seriously and with respect. For staff, breach of this policy may result in disciplinary action, depending on the severity of the issue. Please refer to our Disciplinary Policy for further information on disciplinary procedures, point 11 provides non-exhaustive lists of breaches of conduct examples. Staff and volunteers who are unsure about whether something they propose to do on social media might breach this policy, should seek advice from the Head of Communications.

Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, if a staff member releases information through Scouts’ social media channels that is considered to be in the interest of the public, Scouts Whistleblowing Policy must be initiated before any further action is taken.

Please note: While all attempts have been made to cover an extensive range of situations, it is possible that this policy may not cover all eventualities. There may be times when professional judgements are made in situations not covered by this document, or which directly contravene the standards outlined in this document.

It is expected that in these circumstances staff will always consult with the Communications and Social Media team where possible or advise the team of the justification for any such action already taken or proposed.

• Acceptable Usage Policy
• Data Retention & Data Protection Policy
• Employee Code of Conduct Policy
• Safeguarding Policy and Procedures
• Reporting serious incidents to the Commission, police or other regulators
• Disciplinary Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy

Thank you for engaging with The Scout Association (The Scouts) on social media.

By accessing our social media pages, you agree to our terms of use and agree to behave in a respectful way to all other users of The Scouts’ social media pages.

As The Scouts we are guided by our values: integrity, respect, care, belief, and cooperation.

Behaving in line with these values, means you do not:

• Use The Scouts’ social media pages in any way that prevents, disrupts, or interferes with any other person’s use of the platform
• Abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate, or intimidate any other users
• Upload or publicise any materials through The Scouts’ social media pages which are false, offensive, sexually explicit, defamatory, threatening, obscene, unlawful or which infringe intellectual property rights
• Use The Scouts’ social media pages to break any laws or encourage anyone else to break those laws
• Post or send the same, or similar, messages multiple times through The Scouts’ social media pages
• Share any information which is confidential to any other person
• Attempt to hack into The Scouts’ social media accounts

If we believe that you've not complied with these terms of use, we may:

• Refuse your further use of and/or access to The Scouts’ social media pages
• Remove and/or edit any of your comments from The Scouts’ social media pages

Each social media website or app may have its own terms of use, privacy and cookies policies that will also apply to your use of those sites.