Jammu and Kashmir government issues guidelines on usage of social media by employees

Airing political views on personal social media accounts could now land Jammu and Kashmir government employees in trouble as the state government has issued guidelines for its employees on its usage.

In a notification released on Tuesday, the government added a sub-rule in the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Conduct rules, asking the employees "not to engage in criminal dishonest conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the government".

"The employees should not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts of any political figure and also shall not use their accounts in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses or sanctions their personal activities in any matter whatsoever," the notification says.

The government order, signed by IAS officer and Secretary to the government Khurshid Ahmad, also bars the employees from posting inflammatory and extraneous messages in an online community with an intent of provoking readers into emotional response.