At least seven people have been investigated by management at Aberdeenshire Council for falling foul of social media rules.
The local authority has released the information through a Freedom of Information request, asking what policies it has in place to guide its staff on social media etiquette.
And in a reply, Neil Moir, the council’s FOI co-ordinator, wrote that seven people since September last year have been spoken to about logging into social media accounts.
Aberdeenshire Council only keeps data about disciplinary action on a 12-month rolling basis.
Mr Moir said: “In this time, a total of seven people have been investigated, regarding the use of social media, although no disciplinary action was taken.
“In one case, involving a social worker, no action was taken, but the member of staff was advised to make herself familiar with Aberdeenshire Council’s social media policy, and the equivalent policy held by the Scottish Social Services Council.
“The second case involved six members of teaching staff. Again, no further action was taken, but the employees were asked to make themselves familiar with Aberdeenshire Council’s social media policy, and the equivalent policy held by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.”
The council employs about 10,286 members of full-time staff.
Its social media guidelines state that “unacceptable use” of social media includes posting content likely to cause offence, content that could bring the authority into disrepute, and posting any information about individual service users or tenants.
These posts can include images and video footage, or discriminatory and derogatory comments.
The guide adds: “If you are made or become aware of any inappropriate use of social media by a colleague or employee of Aberdeenshire Council, this should be reported to your line manager or senior officer within your service immediately.
“Before an investigation can be undertaken, there must be evidence of inappropriate use.”
The council controls about 140 social media accounts, including a Twitter page for Provost Hamish Vernal, YouTube accounts and Facebook pages for north-east schools.
