Facebook block relaxed for federal employees
Facebook is no longer strictly off-limits for federal employees during work hours. The ban in place within the federal administration since 2009 has been relaxed: Each department now decides for itself whether or not to allow its employees to use Facebook.
In addition to the FDFA, which never even introduced the Facebook block, the social network is now also accessible again in Doris Leuthard's Uvek, Claudio Frigerio of the Federal Office of Information Technology (FOITT) told the news agency SDA. He confirmed a report by the online platform Blick.ch upon request. At the end of November, the Department of Economic Affairs EVD will also allow Facebook again, according to Frigerio. The FOITT is responsible for the technical blocking of websites.
In effect, the departmental block had been in place since fall 2009, when department secretaries general jointly recommended the block. Despite an appeal to personal responsibility, Facebook, one of the most visited websites, previously clogged federal lines. Only in exceptional cases was access unblocked. The secretaries general have now moved away from this recommendation, leaving the decision to each individual department. Many federal agencies now use social media themselves for communication. Instead of blocking access, employees should be made aware of the possibilities and risks of the platform.
To this end, the Federal Personnel Office, together with the Federal Chancellery and the Confederation's IT strategy body, formulated a guideline on the opportunities and risks of social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are "even more public than a streetcar or a regulars' table," it says. Therefore, officials should not disclose secret or internal information.
Questions from other users - journalists, for example - should be referred by federal employees to their communications office. Private use should also be kept to a minimum, he added. The volume of data generated by Facebook use is no longer a problem, Frigerio said. The infrastructure is constantly being reviewed and is powerful enough today, he said. (SDA)
