Social Media Ethics Pledge

Code of Ethics / Best Practices for Social Media Users and Journalists

1. I will pause and process my emotions before posting or sharing anything that triggers anxiety, fear, outrage, pain, or guilt in me.
   It is good practice to ‘own your triggers’ – take personal responsibility for your emotional reactions when faced with something that evokes a strong emotional response.
   
2. I will strive to distinguish fact from opinion.
   Give the benefit of doubt, avoid sensationalism, and present information in a fair, accurate, and unbiased manner.
   
3. I will not forward any post or comment without conducting due diligence. This includes WhatsApp, email or any groups. I will use fact-checking resources and tools to verify information before sharing and strive to share information with context, going beyond binaries, knowing that there may be multiple perspectives on complex issues.
   • If faced with breaking news where delay due to thorough fact-checking might lead to irreversible damage (for example, news of a fire breaking out), I will clearly mention the source and clarify that no fact-checking has been done.
   • [NOTE: Search engines and Wikipedia are not considered primary sources but may be used as a first step to finding credible sources. For more resources, see below]

4. I will promptly and publicly correct any mistakes I make when sharing information.
   
5. I will make every effort to respect and protect the privacy of others. I will not forward comments from groups or personal information without consent,  adhering to widely accepted principles and best practices for privacy protection.
   
6. I will fact-check any AI-generated content I use and clearly label any post I generate using deepfake technology, generative AI, or Photoshop.
   
7. ​​I will focus on issues and refrain from personal attacks. I will avoid labelling, name-calling, judging, or ‘what-aboutery’, and will engage in respectful and civil dialogue.

To endorse the pledge, please fill in the online form at this link

Background

People using social media to bear witness, and produce and share information are sometimes called ‘citizen journalists’. They do the work of a ‘para-journalist’ but without the training that paramedics, paralegals or paramilitary personnel receive.

The Code of Ethics below provides guidelines with resources to help social media users enhance their credibility. Experienced reporters and editors may find it useful as a revision.

A revision exercise and checklist for practising journalists and editors and a  training tool for ‘para-journalists’ – citizen journalists, social media users and creators

In brief: A reminder to process feelings before sharing.
Be factual. Provide context. 

Paralegals, paramedics, and paramilitary persons receive training for their work. However, social media users and ‘citizen journalists’ who essentially function as ‘para-journalists’ receive no training and have no accountability.

As journalists, para-journalists, citizen journalists, and/or social media users:

• We recognize that anyone with a smartphone is potentially a news producer in today’s digital world.
• We acknowledge the importance of journalistic ethics, training and unbiased reporting for all who use social media platforms or produce information for the public.
• We understand that sharing content that triggers strong emotions can significantly impact. While some content may be factual and important, we recognize that highly provocative content can sometimes contribute to the spread of misinformation if not carefully verified.
• We seek to bridge divides rather than deepen conflicts. We recognise algorithms can push certain content to users, obliterating nuance and encouraging extremes. As social media* users, we acknowledge our collective responsibility to share content with context.
• We are all in this together. We commit to being the change we wish to see. This is a pledge to hold ourselves accountable.

Why this, why now?

This pledge was catalysed by a ‘Writing and Peace Journalism Masterclass’ at Dishari Public Library in Milpitas, California, on 15 June 2024, conducted by Beena Sarwar, journalist, peace activist and educator, co-founder of the Southasia Peace Action Network and founder and chief editor of Sapan News, that operate under the Sapan Foundation. The Dishari Foundation hosted the event. Sapan and Dishari are both 501c3 organisations registered in Massachusetts and California, respectively.

Its genesis lies in a comment from MaryCatherine Neal, a student in Beena Sarwar’s journalism class at Emerson College, Fall of 2018. “Everyone should think like a journalist”, said Neal during a class discussion on ethics and responsibility.

Many others have subsequently contributed to this process.

Details in the Acknowledgements section.

 Implementation and Self-Accountability

• This Pledge is about being the change and taking responsibility for our own actions. There is no penalty, policing, or monitoring of how users are implementing this pledge. 

• We invite users to review and engage in regular self-assessments to ensure adherence to the principles outlined in the Code of Ethics listed in the Pledge. 

Resources 

Some resources for aspiring journalists, citizen journalists, social media users, and revision for journalists.

A basic journalistic rule: Confirm information from at least two diverse, credible sources before sharing. 

• Take the CRAAP test – Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose 
• SIFT the four moves: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context
• Jim Lehrer’s rules of journalism, PBS, January 2020

You can also confirm information from a fact-checking website before sharing further

• Five factchecking sites
  • Plus: Society of Professional Journalists Fact-Checking resources 

Multiple Languages

• Translation services will make this document accessible to those using any language.

Applies to Users of All Digital Platforms 

This Code of Ethics applies to all digital platforms, social media, online spaces, email groups etc, where users share information. These include, but are not limited to:

Comments 

Various individuals, including journalists, editors, activists, media persons, and academics, have reviewed and commented on this document—some of their comments are below. 

• “As an editor and media educator, I have been waiting for just this kind of document as a review tool, we need these guidelines more than ever before.” – Kunda Dixit. Founder Editor Nepali Times, Kathmandu
  
• “Written in a way that gets journalists to think about their personal use of the platforms and reflect on not only what they post, but why. It’s also one of the few takes on this subject that prompts users to think about the impact of their use of social media. It is a very powerful document” –  Stacey Woelfel, journalist, a professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism
  
• “A great idea… highlights how important it is to think and reflect before posting on social media” – Kim Cloete, journalist, media specialist, South Africa
  
• “It’s so heartfelt and noble. Like the Hippocratic oath in medicine. Great attempt.” –  Hamida Merchant, activist, Boston
  
• “Loved the draft. It is an excellent beginning into credible communications!”  – Khalid Hussain, filmmaker, Islamabad
  
• “I love this idea. This pledge is worded so well. It is very easy to understand and definitely promotes everyone to think like we do every day.” – – MaryCatherine Neal, journalist, Virginia.
  
• “I think it’s quite timely given how social media is on the rise”  – Vidya Kakra, human rights lawyer, Mumbai
  
• “Good initiative. Makes people aware of their responsibilities” — Jaspal Singh, community organiser, Cambridge MA
  
• “I am delighted at this initiative. The momentum built up reflects the compassion, courage and wisdom that is desperately needed in all societies to create a better future for all irrespective of race, religion and class.”  Akbar S. Ahmed, Distinguished professor and chair of Islamic studies, American University and global fellow at Wilson Center
  
• The point about pausing to process emotions before posting or sharing anything that triggers anxiety, fear, outrage, pain, or guilt is “so important and so rarely spoken about. Love it” – Urmi Chanda, interfaith scholar, Mumbai
  
• “A wonderful and timely idea, to get everyone, including journalists, to think like a trained journalist before hitting the forward-send button on social media feeds. Even if signing does not bind anyone to follow the rules, at the very least it will be a worm at the back of people’s minds. A great way to educate people about the do’s and don’t’ s of  social media. This needs the widest possible circulation.” –Nirupama Subramanian, independent journalist, Chennai
  
• “Excellent point” – to recognise algorithms can push certain content to users, obliterating nuance and encouraging extremes. – Rachel Layne, journalist and journalism teacher, Emerson College, Boston
  
• This code of ethics is so needed … and the suggestions right on point. It reminds me of what we called “the 10 commandments according to Jim Lehrer” which, of course, were written long before we knew the impact social media (and AI) could have and long before fact-checking became an essential part of election coverage! – Kathleen McCleery, producer, PBS, New Mexico

Feedback and Improvement 

We welcome suggestions to improve this pledge. Please submit feedback to editor@sapannews.com or on our website https://sapannews.com/. 

Acknowledgements

Sapan News founder editor Beena Sarwar conceptualised and drafted this pledge, based on a seed planted by a comment from journalism student MaryCatherine Neal at a discussion on ethics and responsibility at a Foundations of Journalism class at Emerson College, Fall 2018: “Everyone should think like a journalist”.

Many others have contributed to this process since then. Iman Mukherjee, an IT engineer, kickstarted the process by noting the points discussed during a writing workshop conducted by Beena Sarwar at the Dishari Public Library, Milpitas, CA. Subsequent commentators and reviewers include: Sree Srinivasan, digital trainer, New York; Natasha Raheel Khan, journalist, Karachi; Rachel Layne, journalist and journalism professor, Emerson College, Boston; Khushi Kabir, activist, Dhaka; Katherine Abraham, journalist, Pune; Vidya Kakra, human rights lawyer, Mumbai/New York; Dr Mantra Roy, librarian, San Jose; Michael Fitzgerald, journalist, Nieman 2011, Boston; Jim Karb, teacher, New York; Asadullah Khan, journalist, Islamabad; Regina Johnson, journalist, Virginia; Nadeem Iqbal, journalist, Islamabad; Shahidul Alam, photojournalist, Dhaka; Vishal Sharma, lawyer, Shimla/Cardiff; Leslie Davis and Greg White, Chicago; Kathleen McCleery, former deputy executive producer, PBS News Hour, New Mexico; Kunda Dixit. Founder Editor Nepali Times Kathmandu; Stacey Woelfel, journalist, a professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism; Kim Cloete, journalist, media specialist, South Africa; Hamida Merchant, activist, Boston; Jaspal Singh, community organiser, Cambridge MA; Akbar S. Ahmed, Distinguished professor and chair of Islamic studies, American University and global fellow Wilson centre; Urmi Chanda, interfaith scholar, Mumbai; Nirupama Subramanian, independent journalist, Chennai

Endorsements

June 2024 onwards

1. Beena Sarwar, journalist, Nieman 2006, Poynter MTC 2023, Pakistan/USA
2. Vidya Kakra, human rights lawyer, India
3. Khalid Hussain, journalist, Pakistan
4. Col. Pavan Nair, retired, India
5. Richard M. Murphy, journalist, USA
6. Imankalyan Mukherjee, IT engineer, India
7. Natasha Raheel, journalist, Pakistan
8. Ehsan Ahmed Sehar, journalist, Pakistan
9. Nandita Bose, journalist, USA
10. Ravikumar Stephen J., activist, India
11. Faheem Akhtar, journalist, Pakistan
12. Abdullah Zahid, journalist, Pakistan
13. Aliya Rab, architect, USA
14. Regina Johnson, journalist, USA
15. Kamal Siddiqi, journalist, Pakistan
16. Ayeshah Alam Khan, actor, USA/Pakistan
17. Farhatullah Babar, political activist, Pakistan
18. Sharon R. Mier, psychologist, USA
19. Claudia Antunes, journalist, Nieman 20026, Brazil
20. Amna Ahmed, activist, USA
21. Durga Sreenivasan, student, USA
22. Murtaza Solangi, journalist Pakistan
23. Stacey Woelfel, professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism, USA
24. Farrah Taufiq, rights activist, Pakistan
25. Tatsam Mukherjee, film journalist, India
26. Mange Ram Adhana, development specialist, India
27. Sara Arshad, writer, Pakistan
28. Rakesh Prasad Chaudhary, journalist, Nepal
29. Hammad Ghaznavi, journalist, Pakistan
30. Syed Anwar Saeed, Pakistan
31. Suneel Wattal, IT Professional, India
32. Sher Ali Khan, journalist, United States; Pakistan
33. Seema Jaffer, social impact communications professional, Pakistan
34. Kriti Bhattarai, media professional and researcher, Nepal
35. Col Pavan Nair, humanist, India
36. Robert Dietz, journalist, USA
37. Ranjit Powar, psychologist, India
38. Rukhsana Rashid, development consultant, Pakistan
39. Ammar Masood, journalist, Pakistan
40. Shahvaar Ali Khan, actor-musician-writer-director-entrepreneur, Pakistan
41. Fakhra Hassan, high school teacher, Pakistan
42. Dr Satish Uttamrao Patil, journalist, educator, India
43. Dimantha D. Thenuwara, adventure traveler, Sri Lanka
44. Rizwan Ahmed, digital marketer, Pakistan
45. Manisha, India / UK
46. Jaideep Das, education equality, USA
47. Haris Gazdar, sociologist, Pakistan
48. Arjan Singh Rai, policy intern, UK
49. Bidhi Adhikari, student, Nepal
50. Disha, aspiring journalist, India
51. Faisal M. Lalani, global community organizer, USA
52. Rk.Manoj, media professional, India
53. Pragyan Srivastava, journalist, India
54. Anusha Dwivedi, journalist, India
55. Sarita Bartaula, Sapan News, USA
56. Teesta Setalvad, co-editor, Sabrang, India
57. Ratan Guha, consultant, India
58. Monika Marandi, indigenous rights activist, India
59. Sangeeta Srivastava, artist, India
60. Aruna Mukim, social activist, India
61. Kausar S Khan, Pakistan
62. Rakesh Kumar Yadav, thinker, India
63. Rajashri Dasgupta, journalist, India
64. Saraswathy Nagarajan, independent journalist, India
65. Samhita Barooah, freelance writer and social work educator, India
66. Poorvi, independent journalist, India
67. Ranjini Rao, consultant, India
68. Zayeem Zaman, social media user, USA
69. Ashka Naik, food policy expert, India/USA
70. Karuna John, journalist, India
71. Niranjan Adhikari, lawyer, Nepal/USA
72. Meena Menon, Journalist and researcher, India
73. Lalita Ramdas, educator, activist, India
74. Siraj Khan, global non-profit consultant, USA
75. Rehan Allahwala, global citizen, Pakistan
76. Zachary L. Zavidé, Brown Pundits, BRAM Newsletter, UK
77. Asif Saad, management consultant, Pakistan
78. Rob Vreeken, correspondent, Netherlands
79. Arya Gautam, Nepal
80. Shahzain Ali Khan, student, professional athlete, Pakistan
81. Javeria Javeria, UK
82. Tanveer Ahmed, independent action-oriented public policy researcher, Jammu Kashmir (West)
83. Aisha Gazdar, filmmaker, Pakistan
84. Shreekant Chandan, teacher, India
85. Dr. Satish Uttamrao Patil, journalist, writer and principal, Mankarnabai Vinayakrao Marathe Women’s College of Education, Pimpalner, India
86. F Shareefa Thahir, Broadcast Journalist, radio & television presenter & news anchor, Sri Lanka
87. Priyantha Pradeep Ranasinghe, media, Sri Lanka
88. Khawar Mumtaz, peacemonger, Pakistan
89. Yasmeen Kazi, doctor, Pakistan
90. Siraj Khan, global non-profit consultant, USA
91. Bina Sarkar Ellias, poet, editor, publisher, art curator, India
92. Bilal Farooqi, journalist, Pakistan
93. George Fulton, UK/ Pakistan
94. Harith Soysa, Sri Lanka
95. Fauzia Deeba, Sapan, United States
96. Khushi Kabir, activist, Bangladesh
97. Chinmoy Tewary, editor of Pingla Barta News, West Bengal, India
98. Harsh Mander, peace and justice worker and writer, India
99. Maheen Pracha, human rights practitioner, Pakistan
100. Mahnaz Rahman, writer & human rights defender, Pakistan
101. Aekta Kapoor, founder and chief editor, eShe, India
102. Robert S. (Bob) Delaney, writer, editor, social media user, USA
103. Dr Santosh Kumar Dehury, journalist, President of Press Club (regd) Pallahara, State Vice-President of Kalinga Union of Working Journalists (regd) Odisha State, Bhubaneswar, currently working in Odia daily newspaper SURYAPRAVA, India
104. Eunjin Kwak, graduate student, USA, South Korea
105. Imran Mohammed, India
106. Chinmoy Tewary, editor, Pingla Barta, India
107. Lalita Ramdas, educator, India
108. Ramesh Advani, retired businessman, USA/India
109. Gourang Shah, India
110. Umayr Tariq, higher education and media professional, UK
111. Poramatir Desh Patrika, publisher & editor, India
112. Tushar Ranjan, USA
113. Tom Maliti, journalist, Kenya
114. Ambereen Mirza, founder, Readers Without Borders, USA
115. Azra Syed, UK/ Pakistan
116. Bryan Hecht, journalist at Emerson College, USA
117. Gabriella Berry, journalist, USA
118. Jim McManus, affiliated faculty, law and ethics at Emerson College USA/ Ireland
119. Amit Sengupta, editor (independentink.in), India
120. P. Sainath, journalist. founder editor (People’s Archive of Rural India), India
121. Namrata Sharma, editor, Nariswor, Nepal
122. Neil Altman, board member, Harlem Family Services, USA
123. Natarajan Dhanunjaya, India
124. Sabahat Ashraf, iFaqeer Communications, Pakistan/ USA/ Nigeria
125. Shahidul Alam, photography, Bangladesh
126. Sobh Saeed Rid, journalist, Pakistan
127. Salma Saad, Pakistan/USA
128. Ritash 🦾🌈, neuroqueer, writer, India
129. S Veera Raghavan, reporter, India
130. Mithun Bhowmik, business person, India
131. Veera Raghavan, media, India
132. Ahsan Jamil, Pakistan
133. Asma, MD, USA
134. Mohd Abdul khader, professional, India
135. Pervez Akhtar Khan, global citizen, Pakistan
136. Ayesha Khan, researcher, Pakistan/ UK
137. Haresh Bhagwan Aswani, desginer, India
138. Nukhba Masood, student at IBA Karachi, Pakistan
139. MaryCatherine Price, digital streaming EP, WRIC, Richmond, USA
140. Devanshu Gour, India
141. J. Natasha Gooneratne, founder, Perspective South, Sri Lanka
142. Danielle Gehrmann, writer, translator, editor, Australia
143. Dr.Santosh kumar Dehury, 35 years experience in journalism, reporter of Odia daily news paper Suryaprava, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
144. Naziba Basher, journalist, Bangladesh
145. Bilal Arif, England, UK

(being updated)