UK Government workers told: STOP abusing Donald Trump on Twitter
CIVIL servants in the UK have been told to stop posting negative comments about Donald Trump after posts by some staff shared links and images that mocked the US President.
Presenter calls for anti-Trump 'snowflakes' to GROW UP
The Home Office said the posts breached its guidelines on social media as well as its civil service code, which states that staff should not comment on sensitive political issues.
Some personal online accounts of staff stated they worked for the Home Office and posted messages about their work the were also “tweeting or retweeting negative posts about, for example Donald Trump”.
One post, seen by The Times, was by a press officer which retweeted a photograph of a sign that read: “Trump sandwich: white bread, full of baloney with Russian dressing and a small pickle.”
The image was accompanied by the comment: “This made my morning.”
Another comment from a digital services team leader posted link to an article in The Guardian that referred to Mr Trump as a “shallow, mendacious, boorish and extremely dangerous man”.
The poster praised the critique as being “a belter”.
A memo issued by the department’s digital, data and technology department (DDaT), which was seen by The Register, last week informed staff that: “a quick look through just a couple of known personal Twitter accounts of DDaT staff members shows that some are not compliant".
It added: "We need to be careful here and ensure all our staff are following this guidance which reflects the Civil Service Code.”
According to the guidelines staff should not declare that they work for the Home Office on their personal accounts and avoid giving their opinion on politically sensitive issues as well as avoiding posting their thoughts on the organisation as a whole.
The Home Office has said it does not comment on internal correspondence.
A Home Office spokesman added: “Civil servants are all bound by the Civil Service Code which sets out the core values and the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants in and outside of the workplace.
“This includes the need for political impartiality and also applies to the use of social and other digital media.
“We recently updated our guidance on the use of social media by staff to make it clearer and easier to understand.
"This is in line with the Cabinet Office’s guidance and the changes have been communicated to all staff.”