Crocodile Martial Arts Australia – Social Media Policy

Underlying Principles

This policy complements CMAA’s core values:

CMAA MISSION STATEMENT

Our School

Our martial arts school is led by a team of highly motivated individuals who are dedicated to the martial arts.

Our strength lies in the commitment we have to our martial arts programs that are crafted to ensure our  students receive quality instruction in practical self defence.  We are honest, courteous and professional in all areas.

Our Students

Our environment of respect and self discipline ensures that all students from all backgrounds, races and religions have the best possible learning experience in an enjoyable and productive environment. We are sensitive to the needs of the individuals and are focused on the success and satisfaction of each member.

We empower individuals through our martial arts programs encouraging both physical fitness, strong ethics and goal setting. Through this process students become more self confident and gain both physical and mental resilience.

Our Black Belts

Our environment encourages students who have achieved some of their personal goals, such as Black Belt, to not only continue their own training, but to become role models and mentors for others.  After more than a decade and a half as a full time martial arts school, we have built a leadership team that embodies our culture of humbleness and service, ensuring a learning environment of mutual respect without ego.

Our Industry

We are committed to being leaders in the martial arts industry by our integrity, innovation, student satisfaction and personal growth.

Our CEO and management team is responsible for all matters related to this policy.

Coverage

This policy applies to all persons who are involved with activities of CMAA Pty Ltd., whether they are in a paid or unpaid/voluntary capacity and include:

• Members / Student
• Employees
• Instructors—Staff and Leadership Team
• Member families and spectators

Scope

Social Media refers to any online tools or functions that allow people to communicate and/or share content via the internet.

This Social Media policy applies to platforms including, but not limited to:

• Social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest etc.)
• Video & photo sharing websites or aps (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram etc.)
• Blogs and micro-blogging platforms (e.g. Tumblr, Wordpress, Blogger etc.)
• Review sites (e.g. Yelp, Urban Spoon, etc.)
• Live broadcasting apps (e.g. Persicope, Facebook mentions, etc.)
• Podcasting (e.g. iTunes, Stitcher, Sound cloud, etc.)
• Online encyclopedias (e.g. Wikipedia, etc.)
• Instant messaging (e.g. SMS, Skype, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Viber, etc.)
• Online multiplayer gaming platforms (e.g. Xbox live, World of Warcraft, etc.)
• Public and private online forums and discussion boards.
• Any other online technologies that allow individual users to upload and share content.

This policy is applicable when using social media as:

1) an officially designated individual representing CMAA on social media and

2) If you are posting content on social media in relation to CMAA that might affect CMAA’s business, products, services, events, members or reputation

NOTE: this policy does not apply to the personal use of social media where it is not related to or there is no reference to CMAA Pty Ltd or its business, competitions, members, member families or spectators, products, services, event or reputation. However any misuse by you of social media in a manner that does not directly refer to CMAA may still be regulated by other policies, rules or regulations of CMAA.

Using Social media in an official capacity

You must be authorized by the CEO or Management team of CMAA before engaging in social media as a representative of CMAA Pty Ltd.

As a part of CMAA’s community you are an extension of the CMAA brand. As such, the boundaries between when you are representing yourself and when you are representing CMAA can often be blurred. This becomes even more of an issue as you increase your profile or position within CMAA. Therefore it is important you represent both yourself and CMAA appropriately online at all times.

Guidelines

You must adhere to the following guidelines when using social media related to CMAA or its business,  products, members, services, events or reputation.

Use common sense

Whenever you are unsure as to whether or not the content you wish to share is appropriate, seek advice from others before doing so or refrain from sharing the content to be on the safe side.

When using social media, the lines between public and private, personal and professional, may be blurred. Remember you are an ambassador for CMAA.

Protecting your privacy

Be smart about protecting yourself and your privacy.

When posting content online there is potential for that content to become publicly available through a variety of means, even if it was intended to be shared privately. Therefore, you should refrain from posting any content online that you would not be happy for anyone to see, even if you feel confident that a particular individual would never see it.

Where possible, privacy settings on social media platforms should be set to limit access. You should also be cautious about disclosing your personal details.

Honesty

Your honesty—or dishonesty—may be quickly noticed in the social media environment. Do not say anything that is dishonest, untrue or misleading. If you are unsure, check the source and the facts before uploading or posting anything, CMAA recommends erring on the side of caution—if in doubt, do not post or upload.

Do not post anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. Be transparent and honest. Use your real name, be clear about who you are and identify any affiliations you have.

If you have a vested interest in something your are discussing, point it out. If you make and endorsement or recommendation about something you are affiliated with, or have a close relationship with, you must disclose that affiliation.

The web is not anonymous. You should assume that all information posted online can be traced back to you. You are accountable for your actions both on and offline, including the information you post via your personal social media accounts.

Use of Disclaimers

Wherever practical, include a prominent disclaimer stating who you work for or are affiliated with (eg a member of CMAA) and that anything you publish is your personal opinion and that you are not speaking officially. This is good practice and is encouraged, but don’t count on it to avoid trouble—it may not have legal affect.

Reasonable Use

If you are an employee of CMAA, you must ensure that your personal use of social media does not interfere with your work commitment to productivity.

Respect Confidentiality and Sensitivity

When using social media, you must maintain the privacy of CMAA’s confidential information. This includes information not publicly accessible, widely known, or not expected to be shared outside of CMAA.

Remember if you are online, you are on the record—much of the content posted online is public and searchable.

Within the scope of your authorisation by CMAA, it is perfectly acceptable to talk about CMAA and have a dialogue with the community, but it is not okay to publish confidential information of CMAA. Confidential information includes things such as details about litigation, unreleased product information and unpublished details about CMAA syllabus, events, instructors and business information e.g. Instructor  practices, financial information and trade secrets.

When using social media you should be considerate to others and should not post information when you have been asked not to, or where consent has not been sought and given. You must also remove information about another person if that person asks you to.

Permission should always be sought if the use or publication of information is not incidental, but directly related to an individual. This is particularly relevant to publishing any information regarding minors. In such circumstances, parental or guardian consent is mandatory.

Gaining permission when publishing a person’s identifiable image

You must obtain express permission from an individual to use a direct, clearly identifiable image of that person.

You should also refrain from posting any information or photos of a sensitive nature. This could include accidents, incidents or controversial behaviour.

In every instance , you need to have consent of the owner of copyright in the image.

Complying with applicable laws

Do not post or link to content that contains illegal or indecent content, including defamatory, vilifying or misleading and deceptive content.

Abiding by copyright laws

It is critical that you comply with the laws governing copyright in relation to material owned by others and CMAA’s own copyrights and brands.

You should never quote or use more than short excerpts of someone else’s work, and you should always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good practice to link to others’ work rather than reproduce it.

Discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying

The public in general, and CMAA’s employees and members, reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view.

You must not post any material that is offensive, harassing, discriminatory, embarrassing, intimidating, sexually explicit, bullying, hateful, racist, sexist or otherwise inappropriate.

When using social media you may also be bound by CMAA’s values and Anti-Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying policy.

Avoiding controversial issues

Within the scope of your authorisation by CMAA, if you see misrepresentations made about CMAA in the media, you may point that out to the management at CMAA. Always do so with respect and with the facts. If you speak about others, make sure what you say is based on fact and does not discredit or belittle that party.

Dealing with mistakes

If CMAA makes an error while posting on social media, be upfront about the mistake and address it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so. If someone accuses CMAA of posting something improper (such as their copyrighted material or defamatory comment about them) address it promptly and appropriately and if necessary, seek legal advice.

Conscientious behaviour and awareness of the consequences

Keep in mid that what you write is your responsibility, and failure to abide by these guidelines could put your   employment and/or membership at CMAA at risk.

You should; always follow the terms and conditions for any third party sites in which you participate.

Branding and Intellectual property of CMAA

You must not use any of CMAA’s intellectual property or imagery on your personal social media without prior approval from CMAA management.

CMAA’s Intellectual property includes but is not limited to:

• Trademarks
• Logos
• Slogans
• Imagery which has been posted on CMAA’s official social media sites or websites.

You must not create either an official or unofficial CMAA presence using the organisation’s trademarks or name without prior approval from CMAA management.

You must not imply that you are authorised to speak on behalf of CMAA unless you have been given official authorisation to do so by Kelly or Anthony Hockley (owners).

Where permission has been granted to create or administer an official social media presence for CMAA , you must adhere to CMAA’s branding guidelines as liaised with owners.

Policy Breaches

Breaches of this policy include but are not limited to:

• Using CMAA’s name, motto, logos in a way that would result in a negative impact for the organisation, owners, staff and/or members.
• Posting or sharing any content that is abusive, harassing, threatening, demeaning, defamatory or libelous.
• Posting or sharing any content that includes insulting, obscene, offensive, provocative or hateful language.
• Posting or sharing any content, which if said in person during training would go against Dojo rules.
• Posting or sharing content in breach of CMAA’s anti– discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment or other similar policy.
• Posting or sharing any content that is a breach of any state or Commonwealth law.
• Posting or sharing any material to our social media channels that infringes the intellectual property rights of others.
• Posting or sharing material that brings, or risks bringing, CMAA, its programs, its staff or any of its members into disrepute. In this context, bringing a person or organisation into disrepute is to lower the reputation of that person or organisation in the eyes of the ordinary members of the public.

Reporting a Breach

If you notice inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to CMAA or any of its members, or content that may otherwise have been published in breach of this policy, you should report the circumstances immediately.

In the first instance you should call the dojo and advise, followed by putting your concerns in writing and send via email to [email protected] and c.c. [email protected]

Investigation

Alleged breaches of this social media policy may be investigated according to relevant CMAA policies and guidelines.

Where it is deemed necessary, CMAA may report the a breach of this social media policy to police.

Disciplinary process, consequences and appeals

Depending on the circumstances, breaches of this policy may be dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary procedure contained in CMAA’s Code of Conduct.

Employees of CMAA who breach this policy may face disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment in accordance with CMAA’s Code of Conduct and/or other relevant policies, and employment contracts/agreements.

Appeals

Any person who is sanctioned under a disciplinary process for breach of this policy needs to lodge any appeal in writing with any supporting evidence and submit to CMAA management.