UK Civil Servants Can Kiss Blogging Freedom Goodbye
A 33-year-old blogger who works for the UK government, is under fire for her blog “Civil Serf,” which pointed out “bureaucracy and incompetence.” That’s a combo that goes together more often than chocolate and peanut butter. The blog has since been shut down. And it’s probably the first of many.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell is currently working on rules which will outline what government employees can and cannot do on the Web. From blogging to registering on social networking Websites to changing details on Wikipedia, civil servants should expect a royal smack down.
The Department for Work and Pensions claims that these changes are not due to “Civil Serf,” rather, they’ve been in the works for quite some time.
Riiiiight. Perhaps the new blogging rules will get held up in red tape and will never make the light of day? Likely not. For some strange reason, politicos seem to move fast when their names are the punch line of the joke.
Andrew G.R. is the owner of Jobacle, a career advice and employment news blog and podcast designed to make work better. Follow him on Twitter.
I could see limiting what people with access to highly classified info could do, but I see no reason to limit everyone.
And I can very much see what they can do on government time/equipment. Where it could get tricky is people who are never technically off, just at home and not working (ie military).
@jeremy
I totally agree with you…
I think blogging is a very, very effective tool to let the people/public know about many things especially about the government.