ABC’s inconsistent approach to enforcing its social media code ’problematic’
The ABC’s inconsistent approach to handling staff posting anti-Coalition tweets has been deemed ‘problematic’.
The ABC’s inconsistent approach to handling staff posting anti-Coalition tweets has been deemed “problematic” in setting the standard for future behaviour after it was revealed the public broadcaster dealt differently with two senior staff’s partisan tweets.
The senate environment and communications committee, led by Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, made an unusual request this month to the ABC’s managing director David Anderson to resubmit a response to a question on notice concerning two tweets posted by staff members, including former ABC Sydney breakfast radio host Wendy Harmer and business journalist Alan Kohler.
The initial response provided virtually no detail about how the two employees were dealt with after posting anti-Morrison government tweets online, but in its updated response last week it said Harmer was dealt with but Kohler’s tweet “did not require escalation to an investigation”.
Regarding Harmer, the ABC said “the staff member referenced in the question no longer works for the ABC and understands that the retweet referenced in the question has been removed”.
Senator Bragg said this inconsistent approach was a “misjudgment by the ABC and could open the floodgates to more partisan and unprofessional conduct”.
“These test cases are important because they give licence to future behaviour and this is bad behaviour,” he said.
Senator Bragg’s two examples of potential breaches included a retweet by Harmer of a post by Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson that included an image of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and criticised the Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, known as PEP11.
On October 21 last year he posted: “The LNP has gagged debate on a bill to stop the destructive fossil fuel project #pep 11 despite Scott Morrison and Liberal MPs Lucy Wicks, Jason Falinski, Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma having all voiced opposition to the project.”
The second example was a tweet by former prime minister Kevin Rudd that was retweeted by Kohler on October 16: “Murdoch’s Liberal protection racket on vivid display today … Tasmania’s Liberals go to lockdown over a single case and Murdoch cheers. But in Victoria, Murdoch screeches, ‘Dan’s Hermit Kingdom’. What liars. Taking us for fools.”
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