British Broadcasting Corporation Room BC2 A4 Broadcast Centre White City Wood Lane London W12 7TP
Telephone 020 8008 2882 Email xxx@xxx.xx.xx
Information Rights
bbc.co.uk/foi
bbc.co.uk/privacy
Paul Jones
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx 30 September 2021
Dear Mr Jones,
Freedom of Information request – RFI20211377
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 30th August 2021 seeking the following information
under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000:
How many times have on air staff been requested by “management” to remove social media posts
which have been deemed to break the current social media guidance the BBC have in existence
during 2021; and whether such requests are logged as breaches of this guidance.
The BBC published guidance on the use of social media in October 2020 as part of a package
of new measures around our renewed commitment to impartiality. This guidance can be found
in full here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/individual-use-of-social-media
The social media guidance applies to everyone working at the BBC with clear steps to follow to
maintain standards and integrity.
We do not have a central record of instances where staff have been reminded of the guidance.
As set out in section 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, our subsidiaries (including BBC Studioworks Limited,
UKTV, BBC Global News Ltd and BBC Studios Ltd), as well as the charities BBC Media Action
and BBC Children in Need, are not subject to the Act. As such, information relating to these
entities is not considered in the above response.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact
us at the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your
reference number. A request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of
receiving the BBC’s response to your original request.
If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or see
https://ico.org.uk/. Yours sincerely,
BBC HR
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