Responding to online reputational issues and harassment directed at schools and school staff

Introduction

This guidance is for schools dealing with issues of online reputation. It includes links to resources that can help.

Examples of online reputational issues can include:

• fake or impersonation accounts purporting to belong to the school or school staff
• school community groups not managed by the school
• reviews on dedicated sites or search engines
• negative discourse about the school online
• local or national news outlets covering stories about the school or teachers
• allegations of misconduct or abuse

Education is an important part of every child’s life with many invested stakeholders. This often results in schools and teachers being subject to criticism. The school community and others have the right to express their opinions both off and online.

This might happen when schools make policy changes affecting the activities of learners, parents or carers. So long as online posts are evidence-based and respectful, no one has the right to be offended by them. Schools and teachers should be resilient and professional, responding to legitimate criticisms:

• through their online channels where necessary
• in a constructive and transparent manner

Allegations of misconduct and abuse should be treated seriously and addressed via the school’s whistleblowing policy, regardless of whether they have been posted online or via official routes. Those using online channels to raise these concerns should be encouraged to use routes available to them, as set out in school policies, if they wish to raise a legitimate concern.

However, there are some instances where online posts can violate the terms of service of the platform they are being posted on or be criminal in nature. These can include:

• direct threats of violence
• doxing, or doxxing, refers to the act of searching for and publishing personal information about an individual on the internet. This is typically done with malicious intent. The information can include personal details such as home addresses, phone numbers and other sensitive data. The term originates from the slang ‘dropping dox’, where ‘dox’ is short for documents
• targeted abuse and harassment
• libel, which is the written form of defamation (slander is spoken) and is proven or disproven in a court of law. No online platform will facilitate a report of libel without court or law enforcement documentation as they cannot act as the arbitrators of truth

Responding to online posts that do not meet the threshold for intervention

Online posts can be tricky to respond to. We recommend never responding publicly. Where the poster is identifiable and their grievance is legitimate, the school should try to meet with them offline to discuss it. This could also be facilitated on the phone or using online methods, such as a video call. Through these conversations the school can assess the problem and reassure the person of the steps being taken to address it. The school can also then politely request that any online posts be removed.

Reviews

Usually, the host platform will not remove reviews unless they are in breach of their terms of service, such as with harassment and bullying. Negative reviews can be tempered and a school's overall rating recovered by inviting positive members of the school community to leave good reviews. This will push negative reviews down the search results and help provide a more balanced view for readers.

Groups

It may be that some parents or carers have set up a group on a social media platform to share updates and communicate with each other about school. These groups are often harmless and help to create a productive community. However, they can become a problem if discussions on them heavily criticise the school or teachers. Often, these groups are closed, but the school may be approached by a parent or carer with evidence of critical conversations taking place, looking for the school to respond. It is important to understand the motivations of this behaviour and what the parent or carer reporting it to you expects to happen.

Another approach is to create and moderate online groups yourselves as a school. For example, the school could create an official Facebook group for parents or carers so they have a forum to share updates and communicate. Should a problem or difficult discussion arise, the school will be aware and able to respond. These official channels require managing and should be supported by policy and process.

Images

Generally speaking, a school is a private place. Therefore, images and videos taken from within a school without permission and posted online can often be reported to the platform as a privacy violation. However, it is important to understand that images already taken and posted by the school or other authorised persons (perhaps on the school’s website or social media channels) are then considered public, so they cannot be reported in the same way and would not be a violation of the platform's rules.

Context is key, and it may be that an adjoining caption does breach rules. The premise that some images are publicly available also extends to any image posted on social media profiles publicly. If using Facebook, this includes profile and cover photos, even if the account is private. Teachers should check personal social media profiles only show images they are happy to be ‘public’ and re-shared elsewhere.

Online reputation issues that can be reported

Examples that can be reported to the online platform or law enforcement include the following.

Trademark violation

In the UK, a school owns its trademark (school badge, logo and name). To use it without consent is a violation of most online platforms' community standards. Schools that want to ensure the sole use of their trademark across multiple platforms can explore how to purchase it. Fake profiles created to look like a school (for example ones that use the school's badge as a profile picture and the school’s name or a variation of it) can be reported to platforms as a trademark violation.

Impersonation

Clear impersonation is a violation of most online platforms’ standards. It often involves a profile using the image and name of someone else to pretend to be them. This can be a real cause for concern, especially if the account is posting inappropriate or harmful content. However, using someone else's name or picture for an account cannot alone be considered an impersonation. Some platforms allow parody accounts, for example X (formerly Twitter). So long as the account makes it clear it is a parody, X will not act on a report of impersonation.

Other routes to resolution

Reporting and removing content can only resolve the online fallout of a problem that often originates offline. Explore other ways to resolve the root of the problem as a further solution.

Mediation

Face-to-face meetings between schools and persons who have made legitimate critical posts could be facilitated by involving a mediatory partner. such as a representative from the board of governors or trustees. If it is a student or child posting or creating the content, this should be addressed in much the same way. The school can also use their behaviour or acceptable use policy to help inform the conversation. Having effective policies in place to pre-empt these issues will ensure they are dealt with in a consistent manner.

Education

Where it is unclear who is posting or creating content online, but it is obviously students at school, this can be addressed via education. Children may be unaware of the impact their behaviours online are having on the wellbeing of staff and others. Education should be factual and should not make legal threats which are not reflected in the nature of the behaviour.

Resilience and wellbeing

It is important to be aware of what is being posted online. However, online content that may affect teachers' or schools' online reputation can have an impact on staff health and wellbeing. Searches for such content should only be carried out by staff members who have the mental resilience to cope with negative commentary about their school, colleagues and themselves. They should be offered help to manage their subsequent emotions.