Website management policy

This policy was passed by the AGM on 15 November 2012.

The Executive Notes:

  1. The Chair represents the public face of the Society.
  2. Primary responsibility for the Society’s online presence lies with the Secretary.
  3. The Society’s websites (the main site, and the related DHRD site) allow for content to be posted without delay by any person having the relevant online permissions.
  4. Maintaining the Society’s online presence is a time-consuming process and requires more than one person to be responsible for it in order for it to be done effectively.
  5. The Society’s online presence forms part of how the outside world relates to the Society, and so must be organised in a democratic, accountable, and transparent manner.

The Executive Resolves:

  1. This policy shall be posted on the Society’s websites and shall be updated as soon as changes are made, including changes to the responsibilities of those named below.
  2. All members of the Society shall have permission to post on any forum visible only to members. Posts must not be:
    1. Defamatory;
    2. Calculated merely to offend; or
    3. Advertisements for commercial goods or services.
  3. The Secretary shall be responsible for moderating any forum visible only to members.
  4. Permission of the Executive shall be sought before any politically contentious material is posted on the websites if that material is to be accessible to non-members. Subject to this, the following people shall have permission to update the websites, without the prior permission of the Executive, with any content which is not politically contentious:
    1. The Chair, Secretary, and Vice Chairs shall have permission to make any updates;
    2. The Officers and any assistants to the Officers shall have permission to make any updates within the remit of their roles as set out in the Constitution.
  5. The Membership Secretary and Assistant Membership Secretary shall be responsible for ensuring that members can access members-only areas of the websites.
  6. The DHRD site may be updated by the Secretary, International Secretary, the Assistant International Secretary, and Paul Heron (or their delegates). 
  7. Shanthi Sivakumaran shall be responsible for updating the website on student issues.
  8. The Society’s social media accounts shall be updated by the Chair, Secretary, Vice Chairs, International Secretary, and Membership Secretary.
  9. This policy may be updated by the Executive or the General Meeting.