Introduction
This document is drafted in accordance with the existing Rules adopted pursuant to a resolution of the Society at a Board Meeting held on September 15, 2021 and the Best Practice guidance issued by the FSA. This policy is for all CUST Board Members and includes all social media accounts and digital social networks. This policy is in place in order to protect the interests and reputation of CUST.
Meetings & Surgeries
CUST undertakes to hold regular meetings and match day supporter surgeries for its members, to be held in person or online. The type and scope of members’ meetings to be decided in advance and to be included in our engagement guidelines which will be published on the CUST website. All Board members to attend such meetings where possible. A record of each meeting will be published on our official website. This may not be exhaustive due to the nature and confidentiality of the topics discussed.
Answering questions from supporters
CUST will develop a strategy for answering questions from supporters on a regular basis, with priority given to those from members. These questions will be directed to the CUST Board via our official email address of [email protected] and the latest guidelines we publish on our official website will decide the scope of the questions we accept and the method for publishing and distributing answers.
Social Media Usage
Board members will/will not:
Will not divulge information which is confidential to CUST, its members or suppliers.
Will ensure that they do not conduct themselves in a way that is detrimental to CUST.
No derogatory language should be used towards:
any player or person associated with the Club, including supporters
any Member of CUST.
any person online commenting on the Club or CUST.
any member of the wider football community. This includes match officials, other clubs, leagues, associations etc.
any player, official or representative of the above.
CUST does have a public profile, and as such can be subject to scrutiny by the media and public. This means all Board Members need to take great care to ensure that they do not at any time use social media in a way that could damage the reputation of CUST and its partners – Board Members must behave in a way which ensures there is no negative impact on CUST, its members or the people and organisations CUST works with and for.
Privacy and the reputation and feelings of others must be respected at all times. Board Members should obtain the permission of other Board Members before posting contact details or photos. It is in everyone’s interests that Board Members do not make any comment, share images or information that may cause embarrassment to CUST.
As at all times, great care should be taken at all times to avoid using language which could be deemed as offensive (one way of approaching this is to consider how what you were saying would be viewed if it was broadcast as an interview with you).
In the course of working on behalf of CUST, Board Members could have access to information relating to the finances, budgets, transfer or recruitment activity of the Club. Information of this nature MUST be treated sensitively and confidentially. It is expressly prohibited for Board Members to comment on such matters publicly unless prior agreement has been given by the CUST Board for interviews by example.
As much as possible, personal Twitter accounts (or other social networks) should not be used for CUST business. If personal Twitter accounts (or other social networks) are likely to be used to comment on official CUST activity, biographies should state that “the views expressed are personal and not those of CUST”.
All the official CUST accounts reserve the right to block any person or organisation sending abusive messages, discriminating or engaging in intentional provocation. This should be done by Board agreement and not unilaterally by a board member.
It is the responsibility of anyone publishing content on CUST’s behalf to ensure they take additional precautions if they themselves use personal accounts i.e. keep CUST’s accounts separately and ensure they are aware of which account they are using before posting any material.
As with all CUST’s policies, any suspected breach of this policy will be treated seriously and investigated and may result in disciplinary action in accordance with the Code of Conduct.