media ethics research paper

The Defining Characteristics of Ethics Papers on Social Media Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature

• Published: 06 November 2023
• Volume 22 , pages 163–189, ( 2024 )

Cite this article

• Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1433-7387 1 ,
• Ayushi Khemka   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1610-3074 2 ,
• Andy Zhang   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0007-9924-9365 3 &
• Geoffrey Rockwell   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7430-4742 4  

2 Citations

9 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

The growing significance of social media in research demands new ethical standards and practices. Although a substantial body of literature on social media ethics exists, studies on the ethics of conducting research using social media are scarce. The emergence of new evidence sources, like social media, requires innovative methods and renewed consideration of research ethics. Therefore, we pose the following question: What are the defining characteristics of ethics papers on social media research? Following a modified version of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, we analyzed 34 publications based on ten variables: author gender, publication year, region, academic discipline, type, design, methodology, social media platform in focus, positionality statement, and ethical issues. Our findings suggest contemporary social media research ethics primarily reflects the ethical ideals of the Global North, with limited representation from the Global South. Women authors have published more papers than men authors. Previous studies have prioritized ethical concerns such as privacy, informed consent, and anonymity while overlooking researchers’ risks and the ethics of social media sites. We particularly emphasized the lack of researchers’ positionality statements in research. Our findings will pave the way to understanding social media ethics better, especially with the rapid growth of social media research in global scholarship.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda

Criteria for Good Qualitative Research: A Comprehensive Review

Social media influencer marketing: foundations, trends, and ways forward

Aichner, T., & Jacob, F. (2015). Measuring the degree of corporate social media use. International Journal of Market Research, 57 (2), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.2501/IJMR-2015-018

Article   Google Scholar  

Al Zou’bi, H. W., Khatatbeh, M., Alzoubi, K. H., Khabour, O. F., & Al-Delaimy, W. K. (2020). Attitudes and knowledge of adolescents in Jordan regarding the ethics of social media data use for research purposes. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 15 (1–2), 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264620901390

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Allen, M. (2017). The SAGE encyclopedia of communication research methods . Sage Publications.

Book   Google Scholar  

Andreotta, A. J., Kirkham, N., & Rizzi, M. (2021). AI, big data, and the future of consent. AI & Society, 1 , 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00146-021-01262-5

Bender, J. L., Cyr, A. B., Arbuckle, L., & Ferris, L. E. (2017). Ethics and privacy implications of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: A privacy-by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19 (4), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7029

Bos, N., Poole, E. S., Karahalios, K., Thomas, J. C., Musgrove-Chavez, M., & Yardi, S. (2009). Research ethics in the Facebook era: Privacy, anonymity, and oversight. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings , 2767–2770. https://doi.org/10.1145/1520340.1520402

Boyd, D. M. (2008). Taken out of context: American teen sociality in networked publicstaken out of context. University of California, Berkeley. https://doi.org/10.30965/9783846755778_085

Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13 (1), 210–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1083-6101.2007.00393.X

Buchanan, E. (2017). Considering the ethics of big data research: A case of Twitter and ISIS/ISIL. PLoS ONE, 12 (12), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187155

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Bull, S. S., Breslin, L. T., Wright, E. E., Black, S. R., Levine, D., & Santelli, J. S. (2020). Case study: an ethics case study of hiv prevention research on Facebook: The just/us study. In A. L. Caplan & B. Parent (Eds.), The ethical challenges of emerging medical technologies (pp. 127–137). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074984-9

Carr, C. T., & Hayes, R. A. (2015). Social media: Defining, developing, and divining. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23 (1), 46–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2015.972282

Chen, W., & Quan-Haase, A. (2020). Big data ethics and politics: Toward new understandings. Social Science Computer Review, 38 (1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439318810734

Chen, Y., Chen, C., & Li, S. (2022). Determining factors of participants’ attitudes toward the ethics of social media data research. Online Information Review, 46 (1), 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-11-2020-0514

Chess, S., & Shaw, A. (2015). A conspiracy of fishes, or, how we learned to stop worrying about #GamerGate and embrace hegemonic masculinity. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 59 (1), 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2014.999917

Coghlan, D., & Brydon-Miller, M. (2014). Positionality. In W. E. Rowe (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of action research (pp. 1–3). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446294406.n277

Costello, E., Donlon, E., & Brown, M. (2019). Research ethics of Twitter for MOOCs. Online Learning Journal , 23 (3), 252–269. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i3.1564

Creswell, J. W. D., & Creswell, J. W. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage Publications.

Cuthill, F. (2015). Positionality’ and the researcher in qualitative research. Qualitative Research , 16 (2), 63–70. https://doi.org/10.22284/QR.2015.16.2.63

D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism . The MIT Press.

Denyer, D., & Tranfield, D. (2006). Using qualitative research synthesis to build an actionable knowledge base. Management Decision, 44 (2), 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740610650201

Denyer, D., & Tranfield, D. (2009). Producing a systematic review. In D. A. Buchanan & A. Bryman (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational research methods (pp. 671–689). Sage Publications.

Google Scholar  

Deuze, M. (2021). Challenges and opportunities for the future of media and mass communication theory and research: Positionality, integrative research, and public scholarship. Central European Journal of Communication , 14 (1), 5–26. https://doi.org/10.51480/1899-5101.14.1(28).1

Favaretto, M., De Clercq, E., Gaab, J., & Elger, B. S. (2020). First do no harm: An exploration of researchers’ ethics of conduct in Big Data behavioral studies. PLoS ONE, 15 (11), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241865

Ferretti, A., Ienca, M., Hurst, S., & Vayena, E. (2020). Big data, biomedical research, and ethics review: New challenges for IRBs. Ethics and Human Research, 42 (5), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/eahr.500065

Ferrigno, B. N., & Sade, R. M. (2019). Ethics of recruiting research subjects through social media. American Journal of Bioethics, 19 (6), 73–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2019.1602192

Fiesler, C., & Proferes, N. (2018). “Participant” perceptions of Twitter research ethics. Social Media and Society, 4 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118763366

Franzke, A. S., Bechmann, A., Zimmer, M., & Ess, C. M. (2020). Internet research: Ethical guidelines 3.0 . Retrieved February 2, 2022, from  https://aoir.org/reports/ethics3.pdf

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media: A critical introduction . Sage Publications.

Fuchs, C. (2018). “Dear Mr. Neo-Nazi, can you please give me your informed consent so that I can quote your fascist tweet?” Questions of social media research ethics in online ideology critique. In G. Meikle (Ed.), Routledge Companion to Media and Activism (pp. 385–394). Routledge.

Golder, S., Ahmed, S., Norman, G., & Booth, A. (2017). Attitudes toward the ethics of research using social media: A systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19 (6), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7082

Gülpinar, Ö., & Güçlü, A. G. (2013). How to write a review article? Turkish Journal of Urology, 39 (Suppl 1), 44. https://doi.org/10.5152/TUD.2013.054

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Hammersley, M., & Gomm, R. (1997). Bias in social research. Sociological Research Online, 2 (1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.55

Hedges, L. V. (1992). Meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Statistics, 17 (4), 279–296. https://doi.org/10.3102/10769986017004279

Hibbin, R. A., Samuel, G., & Derrick, G. E. (2018). From “a Fair game” to “a Form of covert research”: Research ethics committee members’ differing notions of consent and potential risk to participants within social media research. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 13 (2), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264617751510

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   CAS   Google Scholar  

Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Bennetts, S. K., Nicholson, J. M., Keyzer, P., Lucke, J., Zion, L., & Crawford, S. B. (2020). Ethical considerations in using social media to engage research participants: Perspectives of Australian researchers and ethics committee members. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 15 (1–2), 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264619854629

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher positionality - a consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research - a new researcher guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education , 8 (4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

Holmes, C. E. (2021). Standing out and blending in: Contact-based research, ethics, and positionality. PS: Political Science and Politics , 54 (3), 443–447. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096520002024

Jackson, S. J., Bailey, M., & Welles, B. F. (2020). Afterword: Ethics, backlash, and access in Twitter research. In S. J. Jackson, M. Bailey, & B. Foucault Welles (Eds.), #HashtagActivism (pp. 202–206). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10858.003.0012

Jafar, A. J. N. (2018). What is positionality and should it be expressed in quantitative studies? Emergency Medicine Journal, 35 (5), 323–324. https://doi.org/10.1136/EMERMED-2017-207158

Johnson, A., Lawson, C., & Ames, K. (2018). Are you really one of us?: Exploring ethics, risk and insider research in a private Facebook community. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series , 102–109. https://doi.org/10.1145/3217804.3217902

Jouhki, J., Lauk, E., Penttinen, M., Sormanen, N., & Uskali, T. (2016). Facebook’s emotional contagion experiment as a challenge to research ethics. Media and Communication , 4 (4A), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v4i4.579

Kisselburgh, L., & Beever, J. (2022). The ethics of privacy in research and design: principles, practices, and potential. In B. P. Knijnenburg, X. Page, P. Wisniewski, H. R. Lipford, N. Proferes, & J. Romano (Eds.), Modern socio-technical perspectives on privacy (pp. 395–426). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82786-1_17

Laato, S., Tiainen, M., Najmul Islam, A. K. M., & Mäntymäki, M. (2022). How to explain AI systems to end users: A systematic literature review and research agenda. Internet Research, 32 (7), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-08-2021-0600

Lee, S. S. J. (2017). Studying “Friends”: The ethics of using social media as research platforms. American Journal of Bioethics, 17 (3), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2017.1288969

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Legewie, N., & Nassauer, A. (2018). YouTube, Google, Facebook: 21st century online video research and research ethics. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung , 19 (3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-19.3.3130

Luka, M. E., & Millette, M. (2018). (Re)framing big data: Activating situated knowledges and a feminist ethics of care in social media research. Social Media and Society, 4 (2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118768297

Mancosu, M., & Vegetti, F. (2020). What you can scrape and what is right to scrape: a proposal for a tool to collect public Facebook data. Social Media + Society , 6 (3), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120940703

Mason-Bish, H. (2019). The elite delusion: Reflexivity, identity and positionality in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 19 (3), 263–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794118770078

Matamoros-Fernández, A., & Farkas, J. (2021). Racism, hate speech, and social media: A systematic review and critique. Television and New Media, 22 (2), 205–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476420982230

Mayer, S. J., & Rathmann, J. M. K. (2018). How does research productivity relate to gender? Analyzing gender differences for multiple publication dimensions. Scientometrics, 117 (3), 1663–1693. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11192-018-2933-1/TABLES/9

Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., Stewart, L. A., Estarli, M., Barrera, E. S. A., Martínez-Rodríguez, R., Baladia, E., Agüero, S. D., Camacho, S., Buhring, K., Herrero-López, A., Gil-González, D. M., Altman, D. G., Booth, A., & Whitlock, E. (2016). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Revista Espanola De Nutricion Humana y Dietetica, 20 (2), 148–160. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1/TABLES/4

Monkman, G. G., Kaiser, M., & Hyder, K. (2018). The ethics of using social media in fisheries research. Reviews in Fisheries Science and Aquaculture, 26 (2), 235–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2017.1389854

Moreno, M. A., Goniu, N., Moreno, P. S., & Diekema, D. (2013). Ethics of social media research: Common concerns and practical considerations. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16 (9), 708–713. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0334

NCPHSBBR. (1978). The Belmont report . Retrieved January 6, 2022, from  https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/index.html

Nenadic, I. (2018). Journalists on Twitter: Reconfiguring professional identity, reconsidering research ethics – the case of Croatia. In Research ethics in the digital age (pp. 111–117). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-12909-5_11

Nicholas, J., Onie, S., & Larsen, M. E. (2020). Ethics and privacy in social media research for mental health. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22 (12), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-020-01205-9

O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19 , 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. British Medical Journal , 372 , 1–9.  https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.N71

Parsons, T. D. (2019). Social media ethics section “Background”: Ethical research with social media. In T. D. Parsons (Ed.), Ethical challenges in digital psychology and cyberpsychology (pp. 192–207). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108553384.011

Ricker, B. (2017). Reflexivity, positionality and rigor in the context of big data research. In J. Thatcher, J. Eckert, & A. Shears (Eds.), Thinking big data in geography: New regimes, new research (pp. 96–118). University of Iowa Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt21h4z6m.9

Riedel, J. (2017). Research ethics in the doctoral project “boundary management in social media communication.” In F. M. Dobrick, J. Fischer, & L. M. Hagen (Eds.), Research ethics in the digital age: Ethics for the social sciences and humanities in times of mediatization and digitization (pp. 153–156). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-12909-5_16

Rockwell, G., & Suomela, T. (2015). Gamergate reactions. Borealis , V11 . https://doi.org/10.7939/DVN/10253

Samuel, G., Ahmed, W., Kara, H., Jessop, C., Quinton, S., & Sanger, S. (2018). Is it time to re-evaluate the ethics governance of social media research? Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 13 (4), 452–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264618793773

Article   PubMed   CAS   Google Scholar  

Samuel, G., Derrick, G. E., & van Leeuwen, T. (2019). The ethics ecosystem: Personal ethics, network governance and regulating actors governing the use of social media research data. Minerva, 57 (3), 317–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-019-09368-3

Schucan Bird, K. (2011). Do women publish fewer journal articles than men? Sex differences in publication productivity in the social sciences. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 32 (6), 921–937. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2011.596387

Sellers, C., Samuel, G., & Derrick, G. (2020). Reasoning “Uncharted Territory”: Notions of expertise within ethics review panels assessing research use of social media. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 15 (1–2), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264619837088

Shamseer, L., Moher, D., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., & Stewart, L. A. (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015: Elaboration and explanation. British Medical Journal, 349 , g7647–g7647. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7647

Shaw, R. M., Howe, J., Beazer, J., & Carr, T. (2020). Ethics and positionality in qualitative research with vulnerable and marginal groups. Qualitative Research, 20 (3), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794119841839

Shilton, K., & Sayles, S. (2016). We aren’t all going to be on the same page about ethics: Ethical practices and challenges in research on digital and social media. Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2016 , 1909–1918. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2016.242

Skopec, M., Issa, H., Reed, J., & Harris, M. (2020). The role of geographic bias in knowledge diffusion: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 5 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/S41073-019-0088-0

Staccini, P., & Lau, A. Y. S. (2020). Social media, research, and ethics: Does participant willingness matter? Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29 (1), 176–183. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1702022

Statista. (2022). Most used social media 2021 . Statista. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from  https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Swirsky, E. S., Hoop, J. G., & Labott, S. (2014). Using social media in research: New ethics for a new meme? American Journal of Bioethics, 14 (10), 60–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2014.948302

Tang, L., Omar, S. Z., Bolong, J., & Mohd Zawawi, J. W. (2021). Social media use among young people in china: A systematic literature review. SAGE Open, 11 (2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211016421

Teele, D. L., & Thelen, K. (2017). Gender in the journals: Publication patterns in political science. PS: Political Science & Politics , 50 (2), 433–447. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096516002985

Warfield, K., Hoholuk, J., Vincent, B., & Camargo, A. D. (2019). Pics, dicks, tits, and tats: Negotiating ethics working with images of bodies in social media research. New Media and Society, 21 (9), 2068–2086. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819837715

WMA. (1964). WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. In The world medical association . Retrieved January 7, 2022, from  https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/

Zheng, H., & Ling, R. (2021). Drivers of social media fatigue: A systematic review. Telematics and Informatics, 64 , 101696. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TELE.2021.101696

Zimmer, M. (2010). “But the data is already public”: On the ethics of research in Facebook. Ethics and Information Technology, 12 (4), 313–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-010-9227-5

Zimmer, M., & Proferes, N. J. (2014). A topology of twitter research: Disciplines, methods, and ethics. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 66 (3), 250–261. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-09-2013-0083

Download references

We have been supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and the Media and Technology Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman

Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Ayushi Khemka

Digital Humanities, Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Media and Technology Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Geoffrey Rockwell

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Corresponding author.

Correspondence to Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest, additional information, publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Al-Zaman, M.S., Khemka, A., Zhang, A. et al. The Defining Characteristics of Ethics Papers on Social Media Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature. J Acad Ethics 22 , 163–189 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-023-09491-7

Download citation

Accepted : 23 October 2023

Published : 06 November 2023

Issue Date : March 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-023-09491-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Social media
• Research ethics
• Positionality
• Informed consent
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

•  We're Hiring!
•  Help Center

Media Ethics

• Most Cited Papers
• Most Downloaded Papers
• Newest Papers
• Save to Library
• Last »
• Journalism Follow Following
• News Media Ethics Follow Following
• Journalism Ethics Follow Following
• Mass-Media Ethics Follow Following
• Mass Communication and Journalism Follow Following
• Media Studies Follow Following
• Online Journalism Follow Following
• New Media Follow Following
• Effects of Facebook on the Academic Performance of Freshmen Students Follow Following
• Social Media Follow Following

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• Academia.edu Publishing
•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Help | Advanced Search

Computer Science > Computers and Society

Title: ethics pathways: a design activity for reflecting on ethics engagement in hci research.

Abstract: This paper introduces Ethics Pathways, a design activity aimed at understanding HCI and design researchers' ethics engagements and flows during their research process. Despite a strong ethical commitment in these fields, challenges persist in grasping the complexity of researchers' engagement with ethics -- practices conducted to operationalize ethics -- in situated institutional contexts. Ethics Pathways, developed through six playtesting sessions, offers a design approach to understanding the complexities of researchers' past ethics engagements in their work. This activity involves four main tasks: recalling ethical incidents; describing stakeholders involved in the situation; recounting their actions or speculative alternatives; and reflection and emotion walk-through. The paper reflects on the role of design decisions and facilitation strategies in achieving these goals. The design activity contributes to the discourse on ethical HCI research by conceptualizing ethics engagement as a part of ongoing research processing, highlighting connections between individual affective experiences, social interactions across power differences, and institutional goals.

Submission history

Access paper:.

• HTML (experimental)
• Other Formats

References & Citations

• Google Scholar
• Semantic Scholar

BibTeX formatted citation

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Code, data and media associated with this article, recommenders and search tools.

• Institution

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

• Government reform
• Civil service reform
• Election guidance for civil servants
• Cabinet Office
• Civil Service

General election guidance 2024: guidance for civil servants (HTML)

Updated 23 May 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants/general-election-guidance-2024-guidance-for-civil-servants-html

1. General elections have a number of implications for the work of departments and civil servants. These arise from the special character of government business during an election campaign, and from the need to maintain, and be seen to maintain, the impartiality of the Civil Service, and to avoid any criticism of an inappropriate use of official resources. This guidance takes effect from 00:01 on 25 May 2024 at which point the ‘election period’ begins. The Prime Minister will write separately to Ministers advising them of the need to adhere to this guidance and to uphold the impartiality of the Civil Service. 

2. This guidance applies to all UK civil servants, and the board members and staff of Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and other arms’ length bodies.  

General Principles 

3. During the election period, the Government retains its responsibility to govern, and Ministers remain in charge of their departments. Essential business (which includes routine business necessary to ensure the continued smooth functioning of government and public services) must be allowed to continue. However, it is customary for Ministers to observe discretion in initiating any new action of a continuing or long term character. Decisions on matters of policy on which a new government might be expected to want the opportunity to take a different view from the present government should be postponed until after the election, provided that such postponement would not be detrimental to the national interest or wasteful of public money.   

4. Advice on handling such issues is set out in this guidance. This guidance will not cover every eventuality, but the principles should be applied to the particular circumstances.  

5. The principles underlying the conduct of civil servants in a general election are an extension of those that apply at all times, as set out in the Civil Service Code

• The basic principle for civil servants is not to undertake any activity that could call into question their political impartiality or that could give rise to criticism that public resources are being used for party political purposes. This principle applies to all staff working in departments.  
• Departmental and NDPB activity should not be seen to compete with the election campaign for public attention. The principles and conventions set out in this guidance also apply to public bodies.  
• It is also a requirement of the Ministerial Code that Ministers must not use government resources for party political purposes and must uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service.  

Election queries 

6. For any detailed queries on this guidance, or other questions, officials should in the first instance seek guidance from their line management chain, and, where necessary, escalate to their Permanent Secretary who may consult the Cabinet Secretary, or the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office. 

7. The Propriety and Ethics Team handle general queries relating to conduct during the election period, provide advice on the handling of enquiries and any necessary co-ordination where enquiries raise issues that affect a number of departments (through their Permanent Secretary). 

8. In dealing with queries, the Propriety and Ethics Team will function most effectively if it is in touch with relevant developments in departments. 

Departments should therefore: 

• draw to their attention, for advice or information, any approach or exchange that raises issues that are likely to be of interest to other departments; and 
• seek advice before a Minister makes a significant Ministerial statement during the election period. 

Section A: Enquiries, Briefing, Requests for Information and attending events 

1. This note gives guidance on: 

• the handling by departments and agencies of requests for information and other enquiries during a general election campaign; 
• briefing of Ministers during the election period;  
• the handling of constituency letters received from Members of Parliament before dissolution, and of similar letters from parliamentary candidates during the campaign; and 
• the handling of FOI requests. 

2. At a general election, the government of the day is expected to defend its policies to the electorate. By convention, the governing party is entitled to check with departments that statements made on its behalf are factually correct and consistent with government policy. As at all times, however, government departments and their staff must not engage in, or appear to engage in, party politics or be used for party ends. They should provide consistent factual information on request to candidates of all parties, as well as to organisations and members of the public, and should in all instances avoid becoming involved or appearing to become involved, in a partisan way, in election issues. 

Requests for Factual Information 

3. Departments and agencies should provide any parliamentary candidate, organisation or member of the public with information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Local and regional offices should deal similarly with straightforward enquiries, referring doubtful cases through their line management chain and, where necessary to their Permanent Secretary for decision. 

4. Other requests for information will range from enquiries about existing government policy that are essentially factual in nature, to requests for justification and comment on existing government policy. All requests for information held by departments must be dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The handling of press enquiries is covered in Section I.  

5. Where the enquiry concerns the day-to-day management of a non-ministerial department or executive agency and the chief executive would normally reply, he or she should do so in the usual way, taking special care to avoid becoming involved in any matters of political controversy. 

6. Enquiries concerning policies newly announced in a party manifesto or for a comparison of the policies of different parties are for the political party concerned. Civil servants should not provide any assistance on these matters. See also paragraph 14.  

7. Officials should draft replies, whether for official or Ministerial signature, with particular care to avoid party political controversy, especially criticism of the policies of other parties. Ministers may decide to amend draft replies to include a party political context. Where this is the case, Ministers should be advised to issue the letter on party notepaper. The guiding principle is whether the use of departmental resources, including headed paper, would be a proper use of public funds for governmental as opposed to party political purposes, and could be defended as such. 

Speed of Response 

8. The circumstances of a general election demand the greatest speed in dealing with enquiries. In particular, the aim should be to answer enquiries from parliamentary candidates or from any of the political parties’ headquarters within 24 hours. All candidates should be treated equally. 

9. Where a request will take longer to deal with, the requester should be advised of this as he/she may wish to submit a refined request. 

FOI requests 

10. Requests that would normally be covered by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) must be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Act and the deadlines set therein. Where the application of the public interest balance requires more time, that is permitted under the Act but there is no general power to defer a decision.   

11. Where a request needs to be considered under FOIA it will not normally be possible to get back to the parliamentary candidate, or others, within 24 hours and he or she should be advised of this as they may wish to submit a request more in line with paragraph 8 above. 

Role of Ministers in FOIA decisions 

12. Ministers have a number of statutory functions in relation to requests for information. They are the qualified person for the purpose of using section 36 of the FOI Act for their departments. During the general election period, Ministers will be expected to carry out these functions.  

13. Where there is any doubt, requests should be referred to the FOI Policy team in the Cabinet Office. 

Briefing and Support for Ministers 

14. Ministers continue to be in charge of departments. It is reasonable for departments to continue to provide support for any necessary governmental functions, and receive any policy advice or factual briefing necessary to resolve issues that cannot be deferred until after the election. 

15. Departments can check statements for factual accuracy and consistency with established government policy. Officials should not, however, be asked to devise new arguments or cost policies for use in the election campaign. Departments should not undertake costings or analysis of Opposition policies during the election period.  

Officials attending public or stakeholder events 

16. Officials should decline invitations to events where they may be asked to respond on questions about future government policy or on matters of public controversy. 

Constituency Correspondence 

17. During the election period, replies to constituency letters received from Members of Parliament before the dissolution, or to similar letters from parliamentary candidates, should take into account the fact that if they become public knowledge they will do so in the more politically-charged atmosphere of an election and are more likely to become the subject of political comment. Outstanding correspondence should be cleared quickly. Letters may be sent to former MPs at the House of Commons after dissolution, to be picked up or forwarded. Departments and agencies whose staff routinely deal directly with MPs’ enquiries should ensure that their regional and local offices get early guidance on dealing with questions from parliamentary candidates. Such guidance should reflect the following points: 

a. Once Parliament is dissolved, a Member of Parliament’s constitutional right to represent his or her constituents’ grievances to government disappears, and all candidates for the election are on an equal footing. This doctrine should be applied in a reasonable way. In general, replies should be sent by Ministers to constituency letters that were written by MPs before dissolution. Where there is a pressing need for Ministers to reply to letters on constituency matters written after the dissolution by former Members, this should be handled in a way that avoids any preferential treatment or the appearance of preferential treatment between letters from the governing party and those from other candidates. It will normally be appropriate to send a Private Secretary reply to letters on constituency matters from prospective parliamentary candidates who were not Members before the dissolution. 

b. The main consideration must be to ensure that the citizen’s interests are not prejudiced. But it is possible that a personal case may become politically controversial during the election period. Departments should therefore make particular efforts to ensure, so far as possible, that letters are factual, straightforward and give no room for misrepresentation. 

c. Replies to constituency correspondence to be sent after polling day should, where there has been a change of MP, normally be sent direct to the constituent concerned. It should be left to the constituent to decide whether or not to copy the letter to any new MP. Where there is no change in MP, correspondence should be returned to the MP in the normal way.

Section B: Special Advisers 

1. Special Advisers must agree with the Cabinet Office the termination of their contracts  on or before 30 May (except for a small number of Special Advisers who may remain in post, where the express agreement of their appointing Minister and the Prime Minister to continue in post has been given).     

2. An exception to this is where a Special Adviser has been publicly identified as a candidate or prospective candidate for election to the UK Parliament, in which case they must instead resign at the start of the short campaign period ahead of the election. 

3. Special Advisers who leave government for any reason will no longer have preferential access to papers and officials. Any request for advice from a former Special Adviser will be treated in the same way as requests from other members of the public.  

4. On leaving government, Special Advisers should return all departmental property e.g. mobile phones, remote access and other IT equipment. Special Advisers may leave a voicemail message or out of office reply on departmental IT with forwarding contact details.  

5. Special Advisers receive severance pay when their appointment is terminated, but not where they resign. Severance pay for Special Advisers is taxable as normal income and will be paid as a lump sum. The amount an individual is entitled to will be determined by their length of service as set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Special Advisers are required to agree that if they are reappointed, they will repay any amount above that which they would have been paid in salary had they remained in post. Any excess severance will be reclaimed automatically through payroll on reappointment.  

6. If the Prime Minister agrees exceptionally that a Special Adviser should remain in post during the election period, their appointment will be automatically terminated the day after polling day. In those cases, Special Advisers may continue to give advice on government business to their Ministers as before. They must continue to adhere to the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers and may not take any public part in the campaign. Section A is also relevant in relation to the commissioning of briefing. 

7. Different arrangements can be made for Special Advisers on, or about to begin, maternity leave when a UK general election is called. These arrangements are set out in the Maternity Policy for Special Advisers, and Special Adviser HR are best placed to advise on specific circumstances.

8. If there is no change of government following the election, a Special Adviser may be reappointed. The Prime Minister’s approval will be required before any commitments are made, and a new contract issued, including for any advisers who have stayed in post.

Section C: Contacts with the Opposition Party 

1. The Prime Minister has authorised pre-election contact between the main opposition parties and Permanent Secretaries from 11 January 2024. These contacts are strictly confidential and are designed to allow Opposition spokespeople to inform themselves of factual questions of departmental organisation and to inform civil servants of any organisational or policy changes likely in the event of a change of government.  

2. Separate guidance on handling such contacts is set out in the Cabinet Manual.

Section D: Contact with Select Committees 

1. House of Commons Select Committees set up by Standing Order continue in existence, technically, until that Standing Order is amended or rescinded. In practice, when Parliament is dissolved pending a general election, membership of committees lapses and work on their inquiries ceases.  

2. House of Lords Select Committees are not set up by Standing Orders and technically cease to exist at the end of each session. 

3. The point of contact for departments continues to be the Committee Clerk who remains in post to process the basic administrative work of the committee (and prepare for the re-establishment of the Committee in the next Parliament).  

4. Departments should continue to work, on a contingency basis, on any outstanding evidence requested by the outgoing committee and on any outstanding government responses to committee reports. It will be for any newly-appointed Ministers to approve the content of any response. It will be for the newly-appointed committee to decide whether to continue with its predecessor committee’s inquiries and for the incoming administration to review the terms of draft responses before submitting to the newly appointed committee. 

5. It is for the newly-appointed committee to decide whether to publish government responses to its predecessor reports. There may be some delay before the committee is reconstituted, and an incoming government may well wish to publish such responses itself by means of a Command Paper. In this event, the department should consult the Clerk of the Committee before publication of the report response.

Section E: Political Activities of Civil Servants 

1. Permanent Secretaries will wish to remind staff of the general rules governing national political activities. These are set out in the Civil Service Management Code and departmental staff handbooks. 

2. For this purpose, the Civil Service is divided into three groups: 

a. the “politically free” – industrial and non-office grades; 

b. the “politically restricted” – members of the Senior Civil Service, civil servants in Grades 6 and 7 (or equivalent) and members of the Fast Stream Development Programme; and

c. civil servants outside the “politically free” and “politically restricted” groups  

3. Civil servants on secondment to outside organisations (or who are on any form of paid or unpaid leave) remain civil servants and the rules relating to political activity continue to apply to them. Departments should seek to contact individuals on secondment outside the civil service to remind them of this. Individuals seconded into the Civil Service are also covered by these rules for the duration of their appointment. 

Civil Servants Standing for Parliament  

4. All civil servants are disqualified from election to Parliament (House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975) and must resign from the Civil Service before standing for election. Individuals must resign from the Civil Service on their formal adoption as a prospective parliamentary candidate, and must complete their last day of service before their adoption papers are completed. If the adoption process does not reasonably allow for the individual to give full notice, departments and agencies may at their discretion pay an amount equivalent to the period of notice that would normally be given. 

Other Political Activity 

5. “Politically restricted” civil servants are prohibited from any participation in national political activities.  

6. All other civil servants may engage in national political activities with the permission of the department, which may be subject to certain conditions.  

7. Where, on a case by case basis, permission is given by departments, civil servants must still act in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code, including ensuring that they meet the Code’s values and standards of behaviour about impartiality and political impartiality. Notwithstanding any permission to engage in national political activities, they must ensure that their actions (and the perception of those actions) are compatible with the requirements to: 

• serve the government, whatever its political persuasion, to the best of their ability in a way which maintains political impartiality and is in line with the requirements of the Code, no matter what their own political beliefs are; and 
• act in a way which deserves and retains the confidence of ministers, while at the same time ensuring that they will be able to establish the same relationship with those whom they may be required to serve in some future government. 

Reinstatement 

8. Departments and agencies must reinstate former civil servants who have resigned from “politically free” posts to stand for election and whose candidature has proved unsuccessful, provided they apply within a week of declaration day.  

9. Departments and agencies have discretion to reinstate all other former civil servants who have resigned to stand for election and whose candidature has proved unsuccessful. Former civil servants in this category seeking reinstatement should apply within a week of declaration day if they are not elected. Departments are encouraged to consider all applications sympathetically and on their merits. For some individuals, it may not be possible to post them back to their former area of employment because, for instance, of the sensitivity of their work and/or because their previous job is no longer vacant. In these cases, every effort should be made to post these staff to other areas rather than reject their applications.

Section F: Cabinet and Official Documents 

1. In order to enable Ministers to fulfil their continuing responsibilities as members of the Government during the election period, departments should retain the Cabinet documents issued to them. Cabinet documents refers to all papers, minutes and supplementary materials relating to Cabinet and its committees. This is applicable to meetings of and correspondence to Cabinet and its committees. 

2. If there is no change of government after the election, Ministers who leave office or who move to another Ministerial position must surrender any Cabinet or Cabinet committee papers or minutes (including electronic copies) and they should be retained in the department in line with guidance issued by the Cabinet Office.  Ministers who leave office or move to another Ministerial position should also not remove or destroy papers that are the responsibility of their former department: that is, those papers that are not personal, party or constituency papers. 

3. If a new government is formed, all Cabinet and Cabinet committee documents issued to Ministers should be destroyed. Clearly no instructions can be given to this effect until the result of the election is known, but Permanent Secretaries may wish to alert the relevant Private Secretaries.  

4. The conventions regarding the access by Ministers and Special Advisers to papers of a previous Administration are explained in more detail in the Cabinet Manual. Further guidance to departments will be issued by the Cabinet Office once the outcome of the election is known.  

5. More detailed guidance on managing records in the event of a change of administration will be held by your Departmental Records Officer. The Head of Public Records and Archives in the Cabinet Office can also provide further advice and written guidance can be found here: 

Guidance management of private office information and records

Section G: Government Decisions 

1. During an election campaign the Government retains its responsibility to govern and Ministers remain in charge of their departments. Essential business (including routine business necessary to ensure the continued smooth functioning of government and public services) must be carried on. Cabinet committees are not expected to meet during the election period, nor are they expected to consider issues by correspondence. However there may be exceptional circumstances under which a collective decision of Ministers is required. If something requires collective agreement and cannot wait until after the General Election, the Cabinet Secretary should be consulted.  

2. However, it is customary for Ministers to observe discretion in initiating any action of a continuing or long term character. Decisions on matters of policy, and other issues such as large and/or contentious commercial contracts, on which a new government might be expected to want the opportunity to take a different view from the present government, should be postponed until after the election, provided that such postponement would not be detrimental to the national interest or wasteful of public money. 

Statutory Instruments 

3. The principles outlined above apply to making statutory instruments. 

Departmental lawyers can advise in more detail, in conjunction with the Statutory Instrument Hub.  

4. The general principle that Ministers should observe discretion in initiating any new action of a continuing or long-term character applies to the making of commencement orders, which during the election period should be exceptional.  As is usual practice, statutory instruments are required to go through the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee process before they can be laid.

Section H: Public and Senior Civil Service Appointments

1. All appointments requiring approval by the Prime Minister, and other Civil Service and public appointments likely to prove sensitive (including those where Ministers have delegated decisions to officials or other authorities) should be frozen until after the election, except in exceptional circumstances (further detail below). This includes appointments where a candidate has already accepted a written offer (and the appointment has been announced before the election period), but where the individual is not due to take up post until after the election. The individual concerned should be told that the appointment will be subject to confirmation by the new Administration after the election. 

2. It is recognised that this may result in the cancellation (or delay) of an appointment by the new Administration, and that the relevant department could be vulnerable to legal action by a disappointed candidate. To reduce the risk of this, departments might wish to: 

• recommend to their Secretary of State the advisability of bringing forward or delaying key stages in the process, where an appointment would otherwise likely take effect just before or after an election; 
• issue a conditional offer letter, making it clear that the formal offer of the appointment will need to be confirmed by a new Administration. 

3. In cases where an appointment is due to end between dissolution and election day, and no announcement has been made concerning the new appointment, it will normally be possible for the post to be left vacant or the current term extended until incoming Ministers have been able to take a decision either about reappointment of the existing appointee or the appointment of a new person. This situation is also likely to apply to any appointments made by Letters Patent, or otherwise requiring royal approval, since it would not be appropriate to invite His Majesty to make a conditional appointment. 

4. In exceptional cases where it is not possible to apply these temporary arrangements and there is an essential need to make an appointment during the election period, departments may wish to advise their Ministers about consulting the Opposition before a final decision is taken. Departments should consult the Public Appointments Policy Team in the Cabinet Office. 

5. In the case of public and Senior Civil Service appointments, departments should delay the launch of any open competition during an election period, to give any incoming Administration the option of deciding whether to follow the existing approach.  

6. In those cases where an appointment is required to be made, it is acceptable, in the case of sensitive Senior Civil Service positions, to allow temporary promotion.  

Section I: Communication Activities during a General Election

1. The general principle governing communication activities during a general election is to do everything possible to avoid competition with parliamentary candidates for the attention of the public, and not to undertake any activity that could call into question civil servants’ political impartiality or that could give rise to criticism that public resources are being used for party political purposes. Special care must be taken during the course of an election since material produced with complete impartiality, which would be accepted as objective in ordinary times, may generate criticism during an election period when feelings are running high. All communication activity should be conducted in line with Government Communication Service (GCS) guidance on propriety and propriety in digital and social media .  

2. Departmental communications staff may properly continue to discharge their normal function during the election period, to the extent of providing factual explanation of current government policy, statements and decisions. They must be particularly careful not to become involved in a partisan way in election issues.  

3. During the election period, access to departmental briefing systems will be restricted to permanent civil servants who will produce briefing, and answer requests for information, in line with the principles set out in Section A of the election guidance. Any updating of lines to take should be confined to matters of fact and explanations of existing government policy in order to avoid criticism of serving, or appearing to serve, a party political purpose.  

News Media  

4. In response to questions departments should, where possible, provide factual information by reference to published material, including that on websites. Specific requests for unpublished material should be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. 

5. Routine factual press notices may continue to be issued – for example statistics that are issued on a regular basis or reports of publicly-owned bodies, independent committees etc., which a department is required to publish. 

6. There would normally be no objection to issuing routine factual publications, for example health and safety advice, but these should be decided on a case by case basis, in consultation with the Director or Head of Communications, who should take account of the subject matter and the intended audience. A similar approach should apply to blogs and social media. 

7. Press releases and other material normally sent to Members of Parliament should cease at the point at which this guidance comes into effect. 

8. Statements that refer to the future intentions of the Government should not be handled by a department and should be treated as party political statements. Where a Minister considers it necessary to hold a governmental press conference to make clear the Government’s existing policies on a particular subject prior to the election, then his or her department should provide facilities and give guidance. Ultimately, each case must be judged on its merits, including consideration of whether an announcement needs to be made, in consultation with the Director or Head of Communications.  

9. The Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office must be consulted before a Minister makes an official Ministerial statement during the election period. 

10. Statements or comments referring to the policies, commitments or perceived intentions of Opposition parties should not be handled by departments. 

Press Articles, Interviews, and Broadcasts and Webcasts by Ministers  

11. During the election period, arrangements for newspaper articles, interviews and broadcasts by Ministers, including online, will normally be made on the political network. Care should be taken by communications staff in arranging any press interviews for Ministers during this period because of the possibility that such interviews would have a strong political content. They should not arrange broadcasts through official channels unless they are satisfied there is a need to do so and that the Minister is speaking in a government, not party, capacity. 

Paid Media 

12. Advertising, including partnership and influencer marketing. New campaigns will in general be postponed and live campaigns will be paused (across all advertising and marketing channels). A very small number of campaigns (for example, relating to essential recruitment, or public health, such as blood and organ donation or health and safety) may be approved by the Permanent Secretary, in consultation with GCS and the Propriety and Ethics Team.

a. International activity. Where marketing is delivered outside the UK and targeting non-UK citizens, the campaign can continue during the election period, subject to Permanent Secretary approval and as long as consideration has been given to the potential for the campaign to garner interest within the UK and to reach UK diaspora. If continuing the campaign is likely to generate domestic interest, it should be paused.

b. Official radio ‘fillers’ will be reviewed and withdrawn unless essential.

13. Films, videos and photographs from departmental libraries or sources should not be made available for use by political parties.  

14. Printed material should not normally be given any fresh distribution in the United Kingdom during the election period, in order to avoid any competition with the flow of election material. The effect on departments that distribute posters and leaflets to the public is as follows: 

a. Posters. The normal display of existing posters on official premises may continue but efforts should not be made to seek display elsewhere. Specific requests by employers, trade unions etc for particular posters may, however, be met in the ordinary way. 

b. Leaflets. Small numbers of copies of leaflets may be issued on request to members of the public and to parliamentary candidates, in consultation with the Director or Head of Communications, who should take account of the subject matter and the intended audience. Bulk supplies should not be issued to any individuals or organisations without appropriate approval. 

c. Export promotion stories and case studies for overseas use may continue to be sought  in the UK but it must be made clear on each occasion that this information is needed for use abroad, and permission must be sought from the Permanent Secretary before proceeding. 

d. The use of public buildings for communication purposes is covered in Section L. 

15. Exhibitions. Official exhibitions on a contentious policy or proposal should not be kept open or opened during the election period. Official exhibitions that form part of a privately sponsored exhibition do not have to be withdrawn unless they are contentious, in which case they should be withdrawn. 

Social Media and Digital Channels 

16. Official websites and social media channels will be scrutinised closely by news media and political parties during the election period. All content must be managed in accordance with GCS propriety guidance.

Publishing content online  

17. Content Design: planning, writing and managing content guidance   should be consulted when publishing any online content.

18. Material that has already been published in accordance with the rules on propriety and that is part of the public domain record can stand. It may also be updated for factual accuracy, for example a change of address. However, while it can be referred to in handling media enquiries and signposting in response to enquiries from the public, nothing should be done to draw further attention to it. 

19. Updating the public with essential factual information may continue (e.g. transport delays) but social media and blogs that comment on government policies and proposals should not be updated for the duration of the election period.  

20. Ministers’ biographies and details of their responsibilities can remain on sites, no additions should be made. Social media profiles should not be updated during this period. 

21. Site maintenance and planned functional and technical development for existing sites can continue, but this should not involve new campaigns or extending existing campaigns.  

22. News sections of websites and blogs must comply with the advice on press releases. News tickers and other mechanisms should be discontinued for the election period. 

23. In the event of an emergency, digital channels can be used as part of Crisis Communication  activity in the normal way. 

Further Guidance 

24. In any case of doubt about the application of this guidance in a particular case, communications staff should consult their Director or Head of Communications in the first instance, then, if necessary, the Chief Executive, Government Communication Service, Chief Operating Officer, Government Communication Service, or the departmental Permanent Secretary who will liaise with the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office.

Section J: Guidance on Consultations during an election period 

1. In general, new public consultations should not be launched during the election period. If there are exceptional circumstances where launching a consultation is considered essential (for example, safeguarding public health), permission should be sought from the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office. 

2. If a consultation is on-going at the time this guidance comes into effect, it should continue as normal. However, departments should not take any steps during an election period that will compete with parliamentary candidates for the public’s attention. This effectively means a ban on publicity for those consultations that are still in process. 

3. As these restrictions may be detrimental to a consultation, departments are advised to decide on steps to make up for that deficiency while strictly observing the guidance. That can be done, for example, by: 

a. prolonging the consultation period; and 

b. putting out extra publicity for the consultation after the election in order to revive interest (following consultation with any new Minister). 

4. Some consultations, for instance those aimed solely at professional groups, and that carry no publicity, will not have the impact of those where a very public and wide-ranging consultation is required. Departments need, therefore, to take into account the circumstances of each consultation. Some may need no remedial action – but this is a practical rather than propriety question so long as departments observe the broader guidance here. 

5. During the election period, departments may continue to receive and analyse responses with a view to putting proposals to the incoming government but they should not make any statement or generate publicity during this period.   

Section K: Statistical Activities during a General Election 

1. This note gives guidance on the conduct of statistical activities across government during a general election period.  [footnote 1]

2. The same principles apply to social research and other government analytical services.  

3. Under the terms of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, the UK Statistics Authority, headed by the National Statistician, is responsible for promoting and safeguarding the integrity of official statistics. It should be consulted in any cases of doubt about the application of this guidance.  

Key Principles 

4. Statistical activities should continue to be conducted in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and the UK Government’s Prerelease Access to Official Statistics Order 2008, taking great care, in each case, to avoid competition with parliamentary candidates for the attention of the public. 

Statistical publications, releases, etc. 

5. The greatest care must continue to be taken to ensure that information is presented impartially and objectively. 

6. Regular pre-announced statistical releases (e.g. press notices, bulletins, publications or electronic releases) will continue to be issued and published. Any other ad hoc statistical releases should be released only in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the National Statistician, consulting with the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office where appropriate. Where a pre-announcement has specified that the information would be released during a specified period (e.g. a week, or longer time period), but did not specify a precise day, releases should not be published within the election period. The same applies to social research publications

Requests for information 

7. Any requests for unpublished statistics, including from election candidates, should be handled in an even-handed manner, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. Guidance on handling FOI requests can be found in Section A.  

Commentary and Briefing 

8. Special care must be taken in producing commentary for inclusion in announcements of statistical publications issued during the election period. Commentary that would be accepted as impartial and objective analysis or interpretation at ordinary times, may attract criticism during an election. Commentary by civil servants should be restricted to the most basic factual clarification during this period. Ultimately the content of the announcement is left to the discretion of the departmental Head of Profession, seeking advice from the National Statistician as appropriate. 

9. Pre-election arrangements for statistics, whereby pre-release access for briefing purposes is given to Ministers or chief executives (and their appropriate briefing officials) who have policy responsibility for a subject area covered by a particular release, should continue, in accordance with the principles embodied in the UK Government’s Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.  

10. In general, during this period, civil servants involved in the production of official statistics will not provide face to face briefing to Ministers. Only if there is a vital operational need for information, (e.g. an out of the ordinary occurrence of market-sensitive results with significant implications for the economy, or some new management figures with major implications for the running of public services), should such briefing be provided. Any such briefing should be approved by the National Statistician.  

11. Requests for advice on the interpretation or analysis of statistics should be handled with care, and in accordance with the guidance in paragraphs 6 and 7.  

12. Requests for factual guidance on methodology should continue to be met. 

13. Requests for small numbers of copies of leaflets, background papers or free publications that were available before the election period may continue to be met but no bulk issues to individuals or organisations should be made without appropriate approval. Regular mailings of statistical bulletins to customers on existing mailing lists may continue. 

Censuses, Surveys and other forms of quantitative or qualitative research enquiry  

14. Regular, continuous and on-going censuses and surveys of individuals, households, businesses or other organisations may continue. Ad hoc surveys and other forms of research that are directly related to and in support of a continuing statistical series may also continue. Ad hoc surveys and other forms of research that may give rise to controversy or be related to an election issue should be postponed or abandoned. 

Consultations 

15. Statistical consultations that are on-going at the point at which Parliament dissolves should continue as normal, but any publicity for such consultations should cease. New public consultations, even if preannounced, should not be launched but should be delayed until after the result of the election is officially declared.  

Further Advice 

16. If officials working on statistics in any area across government are unsure about any matters relating to their work during the election period, they should seek the advice of their Head of Profession in the first instance. Heads of Profession should consult the National Statistician in any cases of doubt. Queries relating to social research, or other analytical services should similarly be referred to the relevant Head of Profession or departmental lead and Permanent Secretary’s office in the first instance. Further advice can be sought from the Propriety and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office.

Section L: Use of Government Property 

1. Neither Ministers, nor any other parliamentary candidates, should involve government establishments in the general election campaign by visiting them for electioneering purposes. 

2. In the case of NHS property, decisions are for the relevant NHS Trust but should visits be permitted to, for example, hospitals, the Department of Health and Social Care advise that there should be no disruption to services and the same facilities should be offered to other candidates. In any case, it is advised that election meetings should not be permitted on NHS premises. NHS England publishes its own information to NHS organisations about the pre-election period.

3. Decisions on the use of other public sector and related property must be taken by those legally responsible for the premises concerned – for example, for schools, the Governors or the Local Education Authority or Trust Board, and so on. If those concerned consult departments, they should be told that the decision is left to them but that they will be expected to treat the candidates of all parties in an even-handed way, and that there should be no disruption to services. The Department for Education will provide advice to schools on the use of school premises and resources.  

4. It is important that those legally responsible for spending public funds or the use of public property ensure that there is no misuse, or the perception of misuse, for party political purposes. Decision-makers must respect the Seven Principles of Public Life when considering the use of public funds or property during the election period. The principles include an expectation that public office holders take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit and maintain their accountability to the public for their decisions and actions.

Section M: International Business 

1. This guidance specifically addresses the principles that will apply to international business.  

2. International business will continue as normal during the period of the general election.  

International meetings 

3. Decisions on Ministerial attendance and representation at international meetings will continue to be taken on a case by case basis by the lead UK Minister. For example, Ministers will be entitled to attend international summits (such as meetings of the G20).  

4. When Ministers speak at international  meetings, they are fully entitled to pursue existing UK Government policies. All Ministers, whether from the UK Government or the Devolved Administrations, should avoid exploiting international engagements for electoral purposes. Ministers should observe discretion on new initiatives and before stating new positions or making new commitments (see Section G for further advice on Government decision-making).

5. Where a Minister is unable to attend an international meeting that has been assessed as of significant interest to the UK, the UK may be represented by a senior official. In this case, where an item is likely to be pressed to a decision (a legislative decision, or some other form of commitment, e.g. a resolution, conclusions), officials should engage in negotiations and vote in line with the cleared UK position and in line with a detailed brief cleared by the lead UK Minister. Officials should engage actively where there will be a general discussion or orientation debate, but should seek to avoid taking high profile decisions on issues of domestic political sensitivity. If decisions fall to be taken at an international summit that risk being controversial between the UK political parties, departments should consult their Permanent Secretary about the line to follow who may in turn wish to consult the Cabinet Secretary. 

Changes to International Negotiating Positions

6. There may be an unavoidable need for changes to a cleared UK position that require the collective agreement of Ministers. This may arise, for example, through the need for officials to have sufficiently clear negotiating instructions or as a result of the agreed UK position coming under pressure in the closing stages of negotiation. If collective agreement is required, the Cabinet Secretary should be consulted (see Section G). The Cabinet Secretariat can advise departments where they are unsure whether an issue requires further collective agreement. 

7. Departments should note that the reduced availability of Ministers during the election period means that it will be necessary to allow as much time as possible for Ministers to consider an issue. 

Relations with the Press 

8. Departmental Communication staff may properly continue to discharge, during the election period, their normal function only to the extent of providing factual explanation of current government policy, statements and decisions. They must be particularly careful not to become involved in a partisan way in election issues. 

9. Ministers attending international meetings will no doubt wish to brief the press afterwards in the normal manner. But where officials attend meetings in place of Ministers, they should be particularly circumspect in responding to the press on any decision or discussion in the meeting that could be regarded as touching on matters of domestic political sensitivity. If departments wish to issue press notices following international meetings on the discussions or decisions that took place, they should be essentially factual. Any comment, especially on items of domestic sensitivity, should be made by Ministers. In doing so, consideration will need to be given as to whether such comment should be handled by the department or the party. This must be agreed in advance with the Permanent Secretary.  

International Appointments 

10. The UK should not normally make nominations or put forward candidates for senior international appointments until after the election. It remains possible to make nominations or put forward candidates for other positions. Departments should consult their Permanent Secretary and the Propriety and Ethics Team in Cabinet Office on appointments that risk being controversial between the UK political parties.

Section N: The Devolved Administrations

1. The general election does not affect the devolved administrations in the same way. The devolved legislatures are elected separately to the House of Commons. Devolved Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to carry out their devolved functions in those countries as usual.

2. Under the Civil Service Code, which also applies to all civil servants, civil servants in the devolved administrations serve Ministers elected through elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and do not report to the UK Government. Accordingly, this guidance does not apply to them. They will continue to support their Ministers in their work. 

3. However, the devolved administrations acknowledge that their activities could have a bearing on the general election campaign. While the devolved administrations will continue largely as normal, they are aware of the need to avoid any action that is, or could be construed as being, party political or likely to have a direct bearing on the general election. Staff in the devolved administrations will continue to refer requests for information about reserved issues from MPs, parliamentary candidates and political parties to the relevant UK department. Requests for information about devolved issues will be handled in accordance with relevant FOI legislation, taking account of the need for prompt responses in the context of an election period. 

4. Officials in the devolved administrations are subject to the rules in Section E as regards their personal political activities, in the same way as UK Government officials. 

5. Discussions with the devolved administrations during the election period should be conducted in this context. For more general details on how best to work with the devolved administrations see the Cabinet Office guidance: Devolution guidance for civil servants

Section O: Public Bodies 

1. The general principles and conventions set out in this guidance apply to the board members and staff of all NDPBs and similar public bodies. Some NDPBs and ALBs employ civil servants.  

2. NDPBs and other public sector bodies must be, and be seen to be, politically impartial. They should avoid becoming involved in party political controversy. Decisions on individual matters are for the bodies concerned in consultation with their sponsor department who will wish to consider whether proposed activities could reflect adversely on the work or reputation of the NDPB or public body in question.

This includes departments and their agencies and other relevant public bodies including all public bodies deemed to be producers of official statistics by dint of an Order in Parliament.  ↩

Is this page useful?

• Yes this page is useful
• No this page is not useful

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab) .