Overview and Purpose

Social media has changed the way we communicate.

This policy has been developed to inform our community about using social media so people feel enabled to participate, while being mindful of their responsibilities and obligations.  In particular this policy provides practical guidance allowing all parties to benefit from the use of social media, while minimising potential risks and protecting those involved.

This policy assists to establish a culture of openness, trust and integrity in all online activities related to Norwood Basketball Club.

This policy contains Norwood Basketball Club guidelines for the Norwood Basketball Club community to engage in social media use. It also includes details of breaches of the policy.

In circumstances where guidance about social media issues has not been given in this policy, we suggest you use common sense or seek out advice from those who have approved this policy.

Coverage

This policy applies to all persons who are involved with the activities of Norwood Basketball Club, whether they are in a paid or unpaid/voluntary capacity and including, but not limited to:

 

• members, including life members of Norwood Basketball Club, persons appointed or elected to Norwood Basketball Club boards, committees and sub-committees;
• employees of Norwood Basketball Club;
• support personnel, including managers, physiotherapists, psychologists, masseurs, sport trainers, parents/guardians and others;
• coaches and assistant coaches;
• athletes;
• referees, umpires and other officials;
• member associations
• any official designated individual representing Norwood Basketball Club on social media

Scope

Social media refers to any online tools or functions that allow people to communicate and/or share content via the internet.

This social media policy applies to platforms including, but not limited to:

• Social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ etc)
• Video and photo sharing websites or apps (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Flickr, Vine, etc)
• Blogs and micro-blogging platforms (e.g. Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger, etc)
• Review sites (e.g. Yelp, Urban Spoon, etc)
• Live broadcasting apps (e.g. Periscope, Meerkat, Facebook Mentions, etc)
• Podcasting (e.g. iTunes, Stitcher, Sound cloud, etc)
• Geo-spatial tagging (e.g. Foursquare, etc)
• Online encyclopaedias (e.g. Wikipedia, etc)
• Instant messaging (e.g. SMS, Skype, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, etc)
• Online multiplayer gaming platforms (e.g. World of Warcraft, Second life, Xbox Live, PlayStation etc)
• Online voting or polls
• Public and private online forums and discussion boards
• Any other online technologies that allow individual users to upload and share content.

This policy is applicable when using social media as:

1. an officially designated individual representing Norwood Basketball Club on social media; and
2. if you are posting content on social media in relation to Norwood Basketball Club that might affect Norwood Basketball Club’s business, products, services, events, sponsors, members or reputation.
3. Personal use of social media and what is and is not acceptable as an affiliated member of Norwood Basketball Club.
4. Use of social media for team communication purposes, such as squad and/or team group chats.

NOTE: This policy does not apply to the personal use of social media where it is not related to or there is no reference to Norwood Basketball Club or its business, competitions, teams, participants, products, services, events, sponsors, members or reputation.

However, any misuse by you of social media in a manner that does not directly refer to Norwood Basketball Club may still be regulated by other policies, rules or regulations of Norwood Basketball Club.

Any person who expresses their own personal opinions and views does so with the knowledge that they can not bring Norwood Basketball Club, or any of it’s members (Coaches, Players, Administrators, Managers etc) into disrepute.

Guidelines

You must adhere to the following guidelines when using social media related to Norwood Basketball Club or its business, products, competitions, teams, participants, services, events, sponsors, members or reputation.

Use common sense

Remember, you are an ambassador for Norwood Basketball Club. Avoid publishing personal opinions, stick to the facts.

Protecting your privacy

Refrain from posting content that is not intended to be publicly available.

Where possible, privacy settings on social media platforms should be set to limit access. You should also be cautious about disclosing your personal details.

Honesty

Do not say anything that is dishonest, untrue or misleading. If you are unsure, check the source and the facts before uploading or posting anything. Norwood Basketball Club recommends erring on the side of caution – if in doubt, do not post or upload.

Do not post anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. Be transparent and honest. Use your real name, be clear about who you are and identify any affiliations you have.

If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, point it out. If you make an endorsement or recommendation about something you are affiliated with, or have a close relationship with, you must disclose that affiliation.

The web is not anonymous. You should assume that all information posted online can be traced back to you. You are accountable for your actions both on and offline, including the information you post via your personal social media accounts.

Use of disclaimers

Wherever practical, include a prominent disclaimer stating who you work for or are affiliated with (e.g. member of Norwood Basketball Club) and that anything you publish is your personal opinion and that you are not speaking officially. This is good practice and is encouraged, but don’t count on it to avoid trouble -– it may not have legal effect.

Reasonable use

If you are an employee of Norwood Basketball Club, you must ensure that your personal use of social media does not interfere with your work commitments or productivity.

Respect confidentiality and sensitivity

When using social media, you must maintain the privacy of Norwood Basketball Club’s confidential information. This includes information that is not publicly accessible, widely known, or not expected to be shared outside of Norwood Basketball Club.

Confidential information includes things such as details about litigation, unreleased product information and unpublished details about our organisation, personal details of members e.g. team, coaching practices, financial information and trade secrets.

When using social media you should be considerate to others and should not post information when you have been asked not to, or where consent has not been sought and given. You must also remove information about another person if that person asks you to do so.

Permission should always be sought if the use or publication of information is not incidental, but directly related to an individual. This is particularly relevant to publishing any information regarding minors. In such circumstances, parental or guardian consent is mandatory.

Gaining permission when publishing a person’s identifiable image

You must obtain express permission from an individual to use a direct, clearly identifiable image of that person.

You should also refrain from posting any information or photos of a sensitive nature. This could include accidents, incidents or controversial behaviour.

In every instance, you need to have consent of the owner of copyright in the image.

Complying with applicable laws

Do not post or link to content that contains illegal or indecent content, including defamatory, vilifying or misleading and deceptive content.

Abiding by copyright laws

It is critical that you comply with the laws governing copyright in relation to material owned by others and Norwood Basketball Club’s own copyrights and brands.

You should never quote or use more than short excerpts of someone else’s work, and you should always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good practice to link to others’ work rather than reproduce it.

Discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying

You must not post any material that is offensive, harassing, discriminatory, embarrassing, intimidating, sexually explicit, bullying, hateful, racist, sexist or otherwise inappropriate.

When using social media you are also bound by Norwood Basketball Club’s values and Code of Conduct and Member Protection Policies.

Dealing with mistakes

If an error is made while posting on social media, be up front about the mistake and address it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so.

Conscientious behaviour and awareness of the consequences

Keep in mind that what you write is your responsibility, and failure to abide by these guidelines could put your membership/employment at risk.

You should always follow the terms and conditions for any third-party sites in which you participate.

Branding and intellectual property of Norwood Basketball Club

You must not use any of Norwood Basketball Club’s intellectual property or imagery on your personal social media without prior approval from Norwood Basketball Club.

Norwood Basketball Club’s intellectual property includes but is not limited to:

• trademarks
• logos
• slogans
• imagery which has been posted on Norwood Basketball Club official social media sites or website.

You must not create either an official or unofficial Norwood Basketball Club presence using the organisation’s trademarks or name without prior approval from Norwood Basketball Club.

You must not imply that you are authorised to speak on behalf of Norwood Basketball Club unless you have been given official authorisation to do so by Norwood Basketball Club.

Coaches

As a coach you will be in a unique situation where you will be connected to athletes, officials, club members and parents of athletes. Coaches are also often in the role of an influencer to the many different groups. It is important how you as the coach, use social media but also how you liaise, interact and observe all members of your sporting club, both on the field and off the field.

• Be familiar with and uphold your sport/club policies in relation to social media
• Understand expected conduct and appropriate use
• Understand what to do if issues arise
• Understand how to report concerns
• Sport/club Coach Code of Conduct applies online as it would “on the field”;
• As you would outline to players/athletes expected “on the field” behaviour, talk to them about respectful and appropriate conduct on social media;
• Model good online behaviour, and
• Inform players and/or parents if you want to video the athlete as a tool to analyse and improve performance. Be specific about content storage and deletion.

Coaches and online connection with players/parents

• Avoid connecting with players and parents online through personal social media accounts. It is recommended to communicate and connect on a professional account. This should also be documented in the club policy.
• If you have set up a specific online communications tool, such as group app, then it must be monitored by at least one other staff/committee/ team manager (WhatsApp group chats etc)
• Set guidelines for use of the group app
• Do not bully, and/or post negative content, words, images or emojis that may be misconstrued as bullying or abusive behaviour by a player and/or individual within the chat/app.
• Identify who is the moderator(s)
• Establish consequences for a breach of appropriate use
• Try to limit group chat use to reasonable hours. A suggested time use is between 8am-10pm for a chat with minors in it. Senior team chats may change from this.

Policy breaches

Breaches of this policy include but are not limited to:

• Using Norwood Basketball Club’s name, motto, crest and/or logo in a way that would result in a negative impact for the organisation, clubs and/or its members.
• Posting or sharing any content that is abusive, harassing, threatening, demeaning, defamatory or libellous.
• Posting or sharing any content that includes insulting, obscene, offensive, provocative or hateful language.
• Posting or sharing any content, which if said in person during the playing of the game would result in a breach of the rules of the game.
• Posting or sharing any content in breach of Norwood Basketball Club’s anti-discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment or other similar policy.
• Posting or sharing any content that is a breach of any state or Commonwealth law.
• Posting or sharing any material to our social media channels that infringes the intellectual property rights of others.
• Posting or sharing material that brings, or risks bringing Norwood Basketball Club, its affiliates, its sport, its officials, members or sponsors into disrepute. In this context, bringing a person or organisation into disrepute is to lower the reputation of that person or organisation in the eyes of the ordinary members of the public.

Reporting a breach

If you notice inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to Norwood Basketball Club or any of its members, or content that may otherwise have been published in breach of this policy, you should report the circumstances immediately.

This can be done via the anonymous reporting form on the club’s website or via email to the club secretary on admin@norwoodbasketball.com.au

Please take screenshots where possible of the alleged content/communications and include this in an email, outlining the details and any possible background lead-up/surrounding story to the alleged incident.

Investigation

Alleged breaches of this social media policy may be investigated according to Norwood Basketball Club’s Member Protection Policy.

Where it is considered necessary, Norwood Basketball Club may report a breach of this social media policy to police.

Disciplinary process, consequences and appeals

Depending on the circumstances breaches of this policy may be dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary procedure contained in the Norwood Basketball Club’s Member Protection Policy.

Employees of Norwood Basketball Club who breach this policy may face disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment in accordance with Norwood Basketball Club Member Protection Policy or any other relevant policy.

Related policies

• Code of Conduct
• Member Protection Policy
• Child Protection Policy

Other legal considerations that may be applicable include but are not limited to:

• Defamation
• Intellectual property laws, including copyright and trade mark laws, Privacy, confidentiality and information security laws
• Anti-discrimination laws
• Employment laws
• Advertising standards
• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006
• Information Privacy Act 2000
• Equal opportunity laws
• Contempt of Court
• Gaming laws