Employers need to take ‘tweeters’ to task

It seems inevitable that social media-related problems at work, such as those involving civil servant “tweeter” Sarah Baskerville, are set to become more frequent given the ever-changing nature of internet technology, and its increasing influence on how people communicate. The Press Complaints Commission recently ruled that the Daily Mail’s public shaming of Baskerville did not constitute an invasion of privacy, given her position and the political nature of some of her statements. The newspaper article noted her scathing references to the government’s deficit reduction programme in her “tweets”, and highlighted that it viewed as inappropriate comments about coming to work with a hangover when made by a civil servant. She had listed her occupation at the Department of Transport on her Twitter page.