The ABC’s new rules for what its staff can and can’t say on social media have been met with fierce backlash, with critics warning they could be applied inconsistently and even unlawfully.
The ABC’s new public comment guidelines apply to all staff and cover not just social media but any forum where remarks could “reasonably” reach the public, including WhatsApp messages, letters, or public events.
Employees are prohibited from making comments that could undermine their perceived ability to perform their role, damage the independence or integrity of the ABC, imply endorsement of personal views by the broadcaster, or appear to represent the ABC without authorisation.
While the rules apply to everyone, the document warns that the higher a worker’s profile or seniority, the greater the potential “reputational” damage a breach may cause, with journalists, producers, news editors and senior leaders flagged as the highest risk.
The news comes after Antoinette Lattouf’s successful unlawful dismissal case against the ABC, which turned heavily on the broadcaster’s handling of its previous social media rules. Lattouf was sacked in December while on a five-day casual contract after reposting a Human Rights Watch report on her Instagram account, a decision the Federal Court later found unlawful.
Her lawyer during the case, Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein, said the “public comment guidelines” released on Wednesday failed to provide clear instructions to staff about what conduct might breach the rules.
“The new rules are straight out of corporate brand management textbook. In the words of the Federal Court in Ridd vs QCU, the rules ‘are couched in vague and imprecise language’,” Bornstein said.
“This means that they will be likely to be deployed selectively, capriciously and possibly illegally when bad faith complaints are made to the ABC. In other words, the same malaise that has enfeebled the ABC in recent decades.”
Bornstein also criticised management for inconsistently applying its rules across current and former journalists, many of whom are now classified as “high risk” under the guidelines.
“The Lattouf trial revealed enormous confusion amongst senior managers about the requirements of ABC legislation and its own policies. The new rules suggest that not much has changed,” Bornstein said.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has also slammed the policy, with media director Cassie Derrick describing it as “punitive”.
“The ABC’s new public comment policy doubles down on the punitive approach the national broadcaster has taken for some time towards its staff, and appears to be a mechanism to further entrench insecurity within the workforce,” Derrick said.
She argued that the policy unfairly targets high-profile journalists rather than reflecting editorial responsibility. “While the policy provides some clarity around what employees are deemed ‘high risk’ in relation to what staff can and can’t say publicly, in doing so it appears to target particular ABC staff based on how public-facing they are, rather in what level of control they have over the editorial process.”
Derrick also noted the impact on minority staff. “This new policy does nothing but continue to push risk down on workers. MEAA is writing to ABC management to seek that they properly consult with staff on a public comment policy that protects the ABC and its staff.”
The broadcaster defended the rules, stating they were consistent with its legal obligations. “As our guidance says, staff can seek advice from their manager if they have any questions about the Public Comment Guidelines,” an ABC spokesperson said.
“Editorial staff providing news and information services have a particular responsibility to be mindful that the ABC’s impartiality, and their own and that of their colleagues, is not undermined”.
Speaking on ABC radio yesterday, ABC managing director Hugh Marks added that the scope of the rules went beyond social media. “If you were doing a conversation with a journalist, that’s a one-on-one WhatsApp message, then it would be reasonable to assume that that would also become public,” Marks told ABC radio.
He stressed the policy reflected a need to update existing guidelines rather than a direct response to the Lattouf case.
“It’s a recognition that it’s not just social media where comments by some of our people can potentially reflect in an adverse way upon the reputation of the ABC and that we needed something that captured that much broader environment,” he said.
While the MEAA labelled the guidelines “punitive,” Walkley award-winning journalist and former ABC executive Alan Sunderland took a different view, suggesting the changes did not mark a major departure but instead are a “clearer” way to explain the “ongoing challenge between the rights of someone to just be a member of society and have their views and … working for an independent, impartial news organisation”.
