Standards & Social Media Policy

Purpose

I am committed to representing and engaging with residents of Worthing West in a respectful, constructive, and fair way.

This policy sets out the standards expected from anyone engaging with me or my office in person, by phone, email, letter, or via social media, and the actions that may be taken if those standards are not met.

My office is a small, dedicated team working hard to support as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. While I recognise that people may contact me about upsetting or distressing situations, behaviours that threaten, intimidate, harass, or make unreasonable demands on my office are unacceptable.

Our Approach

We believe that respectful conversations help us work together better for our community.

If something is shared that crosses the line into abuse, harassment, or intimidation, we may remove comments, hide posts, or block accounts.
In serious cases, we may also report the behaviour to the police.

Examples of Behaviour That is Not OK

Whether in person, in writing, or online, please avoid:

• Aggressive or abusive language.
• Personal attacks on me, my staff, or others.
• Discriminatory or hateful comments, including racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or ageist language.
• Persistent trolling, spamming, or repeatedly posting the same point.
• Sharing details, links or material that are unrelated, misleading, or promote conspiracy theories.
• Unfounded allegations against individuals without evidence.
• Publishing anyone’s private or personal information.

General Standards for Engagement

The following behaviours and actions are not acceptable in any interaction with me or my office:

Aggressive or Abusive Behaviour

• Any violence or abuse, including behaviour or language (verbal, written, or visual) that causes me or my staff to feel offended, afraid, threatened, or abused.
  • This includes swearing, shouting, personal attacks, or intimidation.

Unacceptable Language

• Offensive, derogatory, or threatening language.
• Discriminatory comments of any kind, including racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or ageist remarks.
• Serious allegations of criminal, corrupt, or perverse conduct without evidence.

Unreasonable Demands

• • Demands that take up a disproportionate amount of time, preventing my office from assisting others.

Examples include:

• Repeatedly requesting immediate responses within unreasonable timescales.
• Insisting on speaking to a specific member of staff when this is not possible.
• Constantly changing the subject or raising unrelated issues.

Unreasonable Levels of Contact

• Excessive calls, messages, or correspondence that disrupt my office’s ability to operate effectively.
• Sending large amounts of repeated or irrelevant material.

Harassment

• Recording conversations without consent and publishing them.
• Contacting staff via personal channels or accounts.
• Publishing personal, sensitive, or private information about me, my staff, or others

Refusal to Co-operate

• Failing to work constructively with my office to address a concern.
• Ignoring reasonable requests for information or clarification.

Standards for Social Media and Online Engagement

Social media is an important tool for keeping constituents informed and hearing their views. I encourage respectful debate and welcome differing opinions.

However, the following online behaviours will not be tolerated:

• Aggressive, abusive, or threatening comments.
• Discriminatory or hateful remarks.
• Persistent posting of misinformation or unfounded allegations.
• Tagging or messaging repeatedly to harass or pressure.
• Spamming (posting the same comment repeatedly).
• Hijacking posts with unrelated topics.
• Posting images, videos, or memes designed to ridicule or demean.

Moderation Approach:

• Comments breaching this policy may be hidden or deleted.
• Repeat or serious offenders may be blocked without further notice.
• Threats, harassment, or hate speech may be reported to the Police.
• Screenshots of any breach may be kept for records.

Freedom of Speech and Constructive Debate

I will not delete comments purely for expressing disagreement, provided they are lawful, respectful, and relevant to the discussion.
Constructive debate is encouraged, but abuse is not.

Actions My Office May Take

When standards are breached, my office may:

• Issue a warning about behaviour and request change.
• Restrict communication to a specific point of contact.
• Limit or block contact via certain channels, including social media.
• Decline to continue engagement on an issue pursued in an unacceptable way.
• Stop all contact.
• Report the matter to the Police.

Where action is taken, a note may be placed on our records.

Summary

This policy ensures my office remains a safe, respectful, and productive environment for constituents, my staff, and me. Everyone has the right to be heard, and everyone has the responsibility to engage constructively.

Thank You

To the thousands of you who regularly get in touch, share updates, and help me think constructively about how to be the best MP I can be for Worthing West, thank you.

Let us keep our conversations respectful and our community strong, working together for a better future