Saints Netball Club Social Media Policy

Effective 1 February 2018

 

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Saints Netball Club players understand their obligations when using social media (such as Facebook) and are informed of the importance of managing the risks associated with such use that may impact on the reputation of the Saints Netball Club and/or the safety of its players, and that may result in a breach of the Saints Netball Club’s Code of Conduct and policies, procedures or instructions.

This policy is for the mutual protection of the Saints Netball Club and its players and is not intended to prevent, discourage or unduly limit players' expression of personal opinion or online activities. It is the club’s intention to create an interactive social media community with the intent of providing timely information, support for players, coaches and umpires, encouraging and supporting girls and women in our club community and celebrating the growth of our players and their success in a positive and safe environment.

While this is a formal policy the club expects that parents/carers enrolling their children will deliver this message age appropriately.  

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Scope

This policy applies to all players of the Saints Netball Club (referred to hereafter as players).

This policy covers, but is not limited to, the sites and services mentioned below, and is also intended to cover other social media services as they develop in the future:

  • social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok); professional networking services (e.g. LinkedIn); video and photo sharing websites (e.g. YouTube,Snapchat); micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter); forums and discussion boards (e.g. Google Groups); online collaborations (e.g. Wikipedia); podcasting; blogs including corporate blogs and personal blogs; blogs hosted by traditional media outlets.

 

Definitions Social media

Social media includes the various internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Social media enables individuals to communicate via the internet sharing information and resources. Sites such as Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat are a social utility that connects people with family and friends.

 

Content

Content is the information that is put onto social media sites, which includes text, audio, video, images, podcasts and other multimedia communications.

 

Procedure For Use of Social Media Public Comment

The Saints Netball Club players, as private citizens, can engage in public debate on political and/or social issues, whether on the radio, the internet, in newspapers, on the television or social media sites.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

In such circumstances, players should not:

  • make comment as a representative of the Saints Netball Club unless authorised to do so;

  • identify themselves as an player of the Saints Netball Club unless authorised to do so;

  • make comment, regardless of the connection with the player's duties, that amounts to criticism sufficiently strong or persistent to give rise to a public perception that an player is not prepared to implement or administer the policies of the Saints Netball Club as they relate to their duties.

 

Bullying and harassment

Just as bullying and harassment will not be tolerated at school or in the workplace, nor will it be tolerated where it occurs on a social media site. This is regardless of whether it occurs on or off the court.

In this regard, players are not to post any adverse or critical content about any other player or individual on social media sites such as offensive, obscene, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, abusive, harassing, threatening or defamatory content.

 In such circumstances, not only is it likely that disciplinary action will be taken against the perpetrator (which could include expelled from the club), but that such content may also amount to civil proceedings giving rise to the perpetrator being sued for damages or charged with a criminal offence.

 Players may be held personally liable in relation to any ensuing litigation arising from such content being posted. The Saints Netball Club reserves the right to request that certain posts and inappropriate comments be removed from an player’s social media site.

Use of Saints Netball Club email or logo

Under no circumstances are players to use the Saints Netball Club email addresses or logos as part of their personal social media activities.

Security Risks

Social media sites can contain a significant amount of personal information.

Accordingly, it is in the best interests of players to ensure appropriate and effective security and/or privacy settings are established, where available, to allow restricted access to their sites. Players, however, need to be mindful that regardless of the security/privacy settings, content may still be made public (e.g. a contact may cut and paste comments onto another site) or may be illegally accessed by cybercriminals. Furthermore, unintended invitees may gain access to a social network site through a linked association (e.g. friend of a friend).

 Some individuals and organisations, including criminal organisations, use social media to mask their true identity and obtain personal information. It is recommended that players exercise caution with respect to the type of information that they post on such sites.

 

Compliance and Review

The Saints Netball Club is responsible for establishing, overseeing, and assessing compliance with this Policy.

 

Date of Issue

 

This Policy was issued in February 2018.

 

As per the enrolment process, by registering with the Saints Netball Club if you selected yes you agree that you have read and understood the above and agree to comply with above Social Media Policy.