The federal government has introduced stricter rules governing the use of social media and traditional media by government employees, barring officials from using social media platforms for personal publicity.
The Establishment Division briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that new rules have been formulated to regulate government employees’ activities on social media and other media platforms. A dedicated monitoring cell is also being established to oversee compliance.
Under the new framework, government employees will not be allowed to use their official positions for self-promotion or publicise government-related matters without proper authorization.
The rules are aimed at preventing the unauthorized disclosure of official information, personal branding through government positions, and social media activity that conflicts with the government’s code of conduct.
The restrictions are particularly relevant as government officials increasingly use social media platforms such as Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok to communicate with the public.
The Establishment Division is establishing a dedicated monitoring cell to oversee government employees’ compliance with the new social and traditional media rules.
The cell is expected to strengthen monitoring and enforcement and identify activities that violate existing government instructions.
The government had already imposed restrictions on employees’ participation in media activities.
Under existing instructions, government servants require permission before appearing on media programmes and are prohibited from sharing official or confidential information without authorization.
The latest measures are expected to further tighten these restrictions and ensure that government employees do not use their official positions or access to government information for unauthorized publicity or personal branding.
