Bombay HC issues notice to bank on social media policy for staff

Bombay high court issued a notice to Bank of Maharashtra for its response to a petition that challenged its guidelines for regulating the use of social media by its existing and retired employees.

The bench of Justices KK Tated and Riyaz Chagla issued the notice while hearing the petition by All-India Bank of Maharashtra Employees’ Federation.

The petition sought quashing and setting aside of guidelines passed previous year under the title ‘Social Media Policy’. The petitioners states, “It will have far-reaching restrictions on freedom of speech of government employees.”

BoM is an important public sector bank with 15 million customers, around 1900 branches and 88% shares being held by the central government. The guidelines say that an employee must get permission before developing a site or writing a blog, or making social media comments which mention the bank name or its products.

The petition stated that as per the policy, the bank issued guidelines for use of social media by customers, stakeholders and general public. It applies to all forms of social media, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Wikipedia.

The policy mandates that an employee must acquire permission before developing a site or write a blog or make comments which mentions the name of the bank or its policies.

The guidelines prohibit employees form posting such remarks or views on social media which may be defamatory to the bank or fellow employees or criticizes the management or business policies or strategies.