Pentagon Implements Expansive Departmental Social Media Policy
Acting Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Gordon Trowbridge issued a new policy this month, outlining how military and civilian personnel at the Department of Defense (DOD) should use their official social media accounts to advance the mission of the U.S. military and enhance the department's credibility.
Although some military services and other agencies have published social media policies in previous years, the directive (DODI 5400.17) is the Department’s first department-wide instruction to provide specific guidance about social media usage.
Entitled “Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes,” the directive provides instructions on how to use social media effectively for public relations purposes within DOD, procedures for managing social media accounts, and guidance to ensure personal social media accounts are not misrepresented or misinterpreted as official ones. The directive coincides with the previously issued DODI 8170.01, “Online Information Management and Electronic Messaging,” which provided guidance on how to appropriately utilize social media in a secure fashion.
The directive includes guidance which:
Establishes clear responsibilities for DOD leadership in enforcing social media policy;
Issues guidelines for personnel who create content for official platforms to ensure responsible usage;
Discusses key considerations when establishing a new presence or expanding into new platforms, and,
Authorizes the closure of unused accounts.
The social media policy applies to personnel within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, military departments, to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, as well as to other DOD offices and agencies. The new policy may replace existing social media policies in some cases, but the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and department components coordinated on the policy throughout its development.
“In a digital world where lines of truth and authenticity are so often blurred, it’s important that institutions like us have trusted, verifiable and reliable presences,” said Andy Oare, Director of Digital Media for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “We have a duty to the American people to show the work we’re doing, to tell the story of our service members, and to present that information through channels they use in their daily lives.”