Guidelines for Unit and Personal Social Media Use

Exercise caution in offering personal opinions that could be interpreted as an official position. Clearly indicate the separation by using a disclaimer. DoDI 5400.17, Figure 2, provides a sample disclaimer for personal social media accounts.

Refer to the OGE Legal Advisory LA-14-08 for more information.

Avoid expressing expertise on topics where you lack firsthand experience or knowledge. Also, acknowledge the existence of different perspectives. Do not guess or assume information. Refer any questions outside your expertise to your public affairs office, communication specialist or other chain of command.

When an external official presence is established on a social media platform, industry-standard equipment, training and personnel for all roles needed to manage the account are also established as it relates to DoDD 5122.05. Understand your role in the EOP and avoid stating personal opinions on politics, policy or legal matters related to you or your unit.

Reference Section 4 of DoDI 5400.17 for more information on establishing an official DoW presence online. EOPs at all levels must follow the procedures, policies and guidelines outlined in this issuance.

For personal accounts, policies and directives exist to clarify what you must do and what you should do. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to follow them properly.

For more information, refer to:

• Hatch Act
• DoD Directive 1344.10
• 10 U.S. Code § 888 - Article 88
• Guidance on Political Activity and DoD Support (2020)
• DoDI 5400.17

When you see misrepresentations about your unit on social media, you may identify and correct the error, but always do this courteously and with facts.

Section 3f of DoDI 5400.17 has specific guidance regarding transparency on social media. You must never remove social media content from your official DoW accounts unless there is a factual/typographical error, a violation of law, policy, or user service agreement, or an operations or security concern.

When you do need to remove content from social media, publicly acknowledge to the audience and followers why it was removed.

Remember operational security! Don’t post classified, sensitive, controlled unclassified information or anything on a critical information and indicators list. Make sure information is releasable.

Additionally, DoW personnel must exercise caution in preventing unauthorized disclosure of non-public and unclassified information that aggregates to reveal classified information.

Don’t post anything infringing on the proprietary, privacy or personal rights of others. Refer to Privacy Rights Alive vs. Deceased to learn what information can and cannot be released.

Service members should avoid doing anything that discredits themselves or their unit, including using inappropriate language or content. Members should avoid posting any defamatory, libelous, hazing (demeaning initiation rituals), bullying, stalking, vulgar, obscene, abusive, profane, threatening, racially or ethnically hateful, or otherwise offensive or illegal information or material.

Think about potential consequences and how the post would be received by others. Reference the Uniform Code of Military Justice for more information and to ensure compliance.

Do not use your unit to endorse or promote products, companies or political or religious affiliations, and refrain from any appearance of a DoW endorsement or sanction.

Misrepresentation through manipulating identifiers in an attempt to disguise or impersonate your identity is prohibited.

Respect copyrighted and trademarked material. Posting or sharing music, logos, songs or other information protected by copyright, trademark or any other restriction is illegal. Follow national/federal law, service direction, instructions and unit policy.

• Uniformed military members fall under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
• Civilians would fall under the Hatch Act.

You should also familiarize yourself with the most recent fair use policies and procedures. Check out Copyright and Fair Use: A Cautionary Tale for a playful video on fair use and copyright principles.

Review and understand the service agreement terms of any platform you have an EOP. For example, you cannot move sound libraries from one platform to another (e.g., YouTube to DVIDS). If the file you are moving includes that platform's terms of service, you violate those terms and the copyright.

Once something is out there, you can’t take it back. Be careful and cautious when posting to avoid saying/posting anything you shouldn’t. You bear the responsibility for what you post.

As DoW ambassadors, it is permissible to post pictures while in uniform. However, it is extremely important that if you post a picture of yourself or another service member in uniform, the picture does not accidentally or intentionally imply an endorsement of a product or service. You should never post pictures of uniformed service members at or near any political event or rally.

Check out DoDI 5400.17 to learn more about maintaining a clear distinction between personal and official DoW accounts.

Talk to your family and friends about what they should and shouldn't post. You can restrict your own settings, but not theirs. Make sure they know what they can post.

Reference Section 8 of DoDI 5400.17 for more information on personal social media use by DoW personnel.

Restrict privacy settings and don’t add people you don’t know or haven’t met in person. Be circumspect in the information you share.

Carefully consider requests and permissions. Don’t share logins or passwords, and change passwords frequently. Use passwords that cannot be easily cracked, and, when available, enable two-factor authentication.

It is a best practice to create a hacked account plan to implement if adversaries or bad actors breach any official DoW accounts. This plan should be documented in your social media strategy and include:

• Recovery email information
• Standard, templated messages for quick dissemination
• Checklists for various adversarial situations

Don’t publicly post your full name, rank, position, date or place of birth, addresses or ID information. There may be some situations where this information is necessary, but consider the risks and the possible combination of public information from multiple sources that could be used on standard password reset questions.

Restrict location settings on your devices and understand the impacts of what you are posting. It is best not to post your specific location in real-time or geotag your photos.

Geotagging is prohibited in certain situations like deployments, areas of responsibility and other sensitive location-related data. This helps prevent adversaries from exploiting this information.