A civil service bloggers’ code
The Official Secrets Act is not to protect secrets; it is to protect officials.
-Jobs for the Boys, Yes Minister.
Tom Watson has been musing about civil service bloggers following the Civil Serf incident. He has come up with some thoughts but, before I list them, it’s worth repeating that these are thoughts, not a statement of intent or policy.
1. Write as yourself
2. Own your own content
3. Be nice
4. Keep secrets
5. No anonymous comments
6. Remember the civil service code
7. Got a problem? Talk to your boss
8. Stop it if we say so
9. Be the authority in your specialist field – provide worthwhile information
10. Think about consequences
11. Media interest? Tell your boss
12. Correct your own mistakes
I think Tom deserves credit for asking for opinions on his blog; it’s not the first time he’s done it. The discussions are also worth reading for seeing how those twelve points would or would not work in practice. However, they and Tom miss a point; in order for people to sign up to this code (unless, like the Civil Service code, it is imposed), there must be something in it for them. That should be, as I said in the comments on Tom’s post, a cast-iron guarantee that so long as you stay within the code, there will be no interference with your blog and that if you go outside the code interference will be limited to returning you to the code. The penalty for interfering otherwise should be very serious as it is holding someone’s job over them to restrict their freedom of speech.
There are problems with Tom’s suggestions; he has, and this is part of the reason he deserves praise, accepted some of the criticisms. The major point remains, though, that ‘blogging codes’ should be as much about allowing bloggers to blog as protecting the subjects of their blogging.
xD.
