Government Raises ‘Threat Level’ for Its Social Media Teams – Guido Fawkes

EXC: Government Raises ‘Threat Level’ for Its Social Media Teams

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The Treasury is claiming that its civil servants are under threat. A novel excuse to withhold information that should be available to the public…

Guido’s FoI unit asked HMT how many civil servants work on its YouTube channel. It was told:

“Disclosing the size of the team may make individuals more easily identifiable and potentially subject to undue targeting or harassment online. Given the small size of the team and the heightened threat environment faced by government digital and social media teams, we believe disclosure would pose a risk to staff safety and the effective operation of public functions.”

Guido must have missed the mass witch-hunts for the operators of departmental Instagram and video accounts that are sweeping the nation. Quick, raise the budget for the social media intern’s close protection team…

Meanwhile cops are arresting members of the public for their social media content and new legislation is blocking videos posted by opposition frontbenchers. What about their protection?