Social Media Guidelines to Safeguard Personal & Unit Information

Exercise caution in offering personal opinion that could be interpreted as an official position. Clearly indicate the separation by using a disclaimer such as ‘the views, thoughts and opinions offered are personal and do not represent endorsed or official policy’. Refer to the OGE Legal Advisory LA-14-08 for more information.

Avoid any area of expertise where you do not have first-hand experience or knowledge. Also acknowledge the existence of different perspectives. Do not guess or assume information. Refer any questions outside your expertise to a subject matter expert (SME).

No personal opinions on politics or policy matters related to your unit. Also, do not comment on work-related legal matters.

Avoid personal opinions on politics or policy matters related to your unit. Know that there are actual policies and directives that help you distinguish what you must operate by and what you should operate by. The policies and directives are provided, but the onus is on the member to appropriately follow them. This is specific to personal accounts only. For more information, please refer to the

• Hatch Act
• DoD Directive 1344.10
• Article 88
• Guidance on Political Activity and DoD Support (2016)
• Emoluments Clause
• Law of Armed Conflict

When you see misrepresentations about your unit in social media, you may identify and correct the error, but always do this courteously and with facts. Avoid heated arguments and be respectful.

Remember Operational Security (OPSEC)! Don’t post classified, sensitive, ‘For Official/Internal Use Only’ information, or anything on a Critical Information List. Make sure information is releasable.

Don’t post anything infringing on the proprietary, privacy or personal rights of others.

Members should avoid doing anything that discredits yourself or your 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.

Do not use your unit to endorse or promote products, companies, political or religious affiliations.

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

Respect copyrighted and trademarked material. Posting or sharing music, logos, songs, or other information that is protected by copyright, trademark, or any other restriction is illegal. Follow national/federal law, service direction and instructions and your unit policy. Uniformed military members fall under the UCMJ. Civilians would fall under the Hatch Act.

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

Don’t post social media profile pictures showing you in uniform or on base. Make sure all photos in uniform or on base are privacy restricted.

Advise family and friends to be prudent. You can restrict your own settings, but not theirs. Make sure they know what they can post.

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. Change passwords frequently.

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.

Don’t post your specific location in real-time or geo-tag your photos. This helps prevent others taking advantage of this information.