Three sacked by Home Office for social media misuse
The Home Office has revealed that it has sacked three people for their use of social media.
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An FOI request submitted by think tank Parliament Street has revealed that three members of staff at the Home Office were dismissed for their use of Facebook, MySpace and Bebo individually for bringing the Department into disrepute through internet postings.
Written warnings were also presented to staff members for their use of Twitter, BEBO, Facebook and Myspace, the FOI revealed.
Steven George-Hilley, director of technology at Parliament Street, said: “Embracing digital channels and encouraging responsible use of social media should be a top priority for every Government department as part of the digital by default agenda. Simply sacking staff over social media blunders is a short term solution, instead departments should be training and informing workers about how to best use these channels to deliver faster, more interactive public services.”
A Home Office spokesperson added: "The Home Office has clear guidance for staff on the use of social media, as well as their responsibilities as civil servants, and the vast majority abide by these rules. For the tiny minority who don't, there are disciplinary measures in place.”
In January, The Guardian revealed that 11 civil servants from the Work and Pensions department had been dismissed for their social media use, while 116 were disciplined since 2009.