OCA Synod issues updated social media guidelines

The OCA has put out guidelines for clergy on the Internet a few times over the years. They received uneven acceptance and frankly when I talked to some priests they had no idea they even existed. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of such panacean blanket solutions, but the current climate almost requires some form of top-down response to clergy in the Internet wilderness.

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(OCA) - During their Fall Session at the Chancery October 23-26, 2018, the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops gave their blessing to release an updated set of “Social Media Guidelines for Clergy and Lay Leaders” of the Orthodox Church in America. Available in PDF format, the Guidelines had been approved by the Metropolitan Council on September 19.

The updated Guidelines are recommended by the Holy Synod for implementation by the Central Church Administration, ministries, dioceses, parishes, clergy, lay leaders, staff and volunteers who work within the institutional, social, and legal environment of the Church. They should be adapted for use in these various contexts in order to ensure protection for the workers, youth and adults who labor for the Church in these varying circumstances. All entities are recommended to adopt these Guidelines, which supersede those originally issued by the Holy Synod on October 6, 2011, and to abide by them in order to protect the interests of the Orthodox Church in America. Each diocese will be expected to review the Guidelines and apply them within their respective contexts.

The Guidelines set forth social media best practices, guidelines for social media for clergy, and guidelines for social media when dealing with youth. Among the highlighted elements are the Social Media Code of Conduct for employees and volunteers, important considerations with regard to posting photographs and videos, and recommended image release forms for social media postings.

Some examples from the guidelines below. These are cause for some extended rumination - some bordering on first amendment impingement (as always, blue is my commentary).

• All communications sent digitally (email, social networking sites, notes or posts, etc.) are not confidential and may be shared or reposted to others. Similarly, digital communications are additive and not ever really gone. You can't really delete anything you've said or done online.
• Only those officially designated to do so may use social media to speak on behalf of the Church or a Church-related entity in an official capacity, though employees/volunteers may use social media to speak for themselves individually. If and when designated persons use social media to communicate on behalf of the Church, they should clearly identify themselves as a Church employee or volunteer. Do they mean clergy here? Do they mean ushers? I'm unclear on how far this silence goes.
• Do not violate copyright and fair use laws and do not plagiarize another’s work. Obtain permission to use any material created by someone else. Does this include homilies? I was traveling one weekend and heard a priest deliver a very frank and touching sermon that I knew I'd heard somewhere before. It was one of Fr. Thomas Hopko's (of blessed memory) and was delivered without any attribution. 
• There may be comments on other churches, but made only with respect and without ridiculing, defaming, or libeling them in any way. This is a good amount of all the discussion online at the moment. Is the "truth" libeling? Does anyone who says this about "those papist Greeks" or "those wanna-be monastic Russians" think he's making something up?
• Individual personal profiles of clergy are to be used to interact with real friends, family and peers. Clergy should not submit “friend” requests to parishioners and others to whom they minister. The disparity of power respecting clergy may not give the other person the ability to decline such request. When I used Facebook, I never made a friend of any parishioners, children of parishioners, or anyone who was friending me because of my clerical role. But if you stick to this rule, you must do so 100% of the time.
• Clergy should consider the impact of declining a “friend” request from parishioners. These encounters may create a tension in “real world” relationships. Clergy can direct ‘friend” requests from parishioners to the parish’s group page. No different from selectively declining invitations to dine with parishioners at their homes.
• Clergy should refrain from making political statements, joining political groups, or “becoming fans” of particular political candidates or political causes on social network sites. There is a distinction between joining "Orthodox Christians for Socialism" and "Pro-Life Orthodoxy," but I wouldn't want my jurisdiction telling me what political activity I can or can't have.