Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      DoD releases first departmentwide social media policyPublished Aug. 16, 2022
                    
                    
                    C. Todd Lopez, DoD News
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**Icons represent different social media platforms.The Defense Department released a new policy that, for the first time, spells out how military and civilian personnel must use social media to best advance the mission of the U.S. military and to avoid pitfalls that could damage the department’s credibility. (U.S. Air Force photo by Patrick Buffett)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res

    










**released a policy** Aug. 15 that for the first time spells out, from the highest levels of the defense community, how DoD military and civilian personnel should use official social media accounts to best advance the mission of the U.S. military and further instill trust in the credibility of the DoD.**DoD Instruction 5400.17**, titled "Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes," provides principles for social media use within DoD, direction regarding records management procedures for social media accounts, and guidance to ensure personal social media accounts are not misrepresented or misinterpreted as official accounts.
While some of the military services and other agencies published social media policies years ago, DODI 5400.17 is the department's first instruction that provided Pentagon-level, departmentwide guidance that specifically addresses the use of social media. The DoD chief information officer previously issued **DODI 8170.01**, "Online Information Management and Electronic Messaging," to provide broad policy guidance on the secure and appropriate use of social media. The new policy specifically addresses public affairs uses and responsibilities.
"It's long overdue," said Andy Oare, Office of the Secretary of Defense director of digital media. "There have been efforts in the past to do this, but in an organization of this size and magnitude, you need to fully coordinate and ensure all viewpoints are heard and represented. We wanted to make sure the services were collaborators from the very beginning."
Because social media changes rapidly, Oare said policies that the department may have started developing in the past but had never finalized would quickly show their age. That won't happen with the newly published instruction, and he stressed that this policy will be continually refined and updated based on the evolving social media landscape.
"We'll work across the department to be agile and responsive in our day-to-day operations as we implement this policy and update it where and when we should," Oare said.
"Social media has an effect on every one of our service members, civilians, contractors and their families — whether they run an official account or have never heard of Twitter," Oare said. "We owe it to all of them to have one central policy that provides a clearly articulated standard of operation and accountability."
The DoD social media policy applies to Office of the Secretary of Defense personnel, the military departments, the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, the combatant commands, and other DoD offices and agencies. In some cases, this means the new policy will supersede preexisting social media policies, but close coordination throughout its development ensured that all perspectives were considered and integrated.
"We deliberately wrote it in a collaborative manner, and it encourages component heads to continue establishing component-specific social media regulations," Oare said. "Our aim is not to be prescriptive or restrictive, but rather to lay out some commonsense rules that simply have not been formally articulated at this level."
In addition to detailing the roles and responsibilities of DoD leadership in enforcing responsible social media practices, the new policy offers guidance to department personnel who generate content on official social media platforms to ensure responsible use of the medium, key elements to consider when establishing a new presence or expanding into new platforms, and on the authority to close unused accounts.
"If social media is mismanaged or mishandled, the U.S. government's reputation with the American public; relationships with interagency, international, state, local and tribal entities; military operations; and reputation for a high ethical and professional standard may be compromised," the policy warns social media practitioners.
The guidance in DODI 5400.17 is meant to ensure DoD's credibility and avoid controversy, while using social media to share its missions with the public, Oare said.
"In a digital world where lines of truth and authenticity are so often blurred, it’s important that institutions like us have trusted, verifiable and reliable presences," Oare said. "We have a duty to the American people to show the work we’re doing, to tell the story of our service members, and to present that information though channels they use in their daily lives."FS 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



policy 



update 



Social Media 



trust 



credibility 



transparency 



truth 



DODI 5400.17 



official use 



Department of Defense 



DOD 



social media use 



One Team One Fight 



guidance 



responsibility 



OPSEC 



Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil