Free Speech Pact Leaves out Key Social Media

In recent global events the Internet has become an important link and use for journalists across the world. Many people across the world result to social media to update traditional media in times of crisis. Yet countries across the globe are trying to censor the Internet and the content available to citizens. Recently, Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft signed a code of conduct intended to protect free speech and privacy in these countries that stress censorship of the Internet. Three years later though it has yet to attract any more companies to sign this pact.

However, sites like Twitter and Facebook opted to not sing this code of conduct. This code of conduct is meant to convince companies to up hold to their principles of free speech and choosing ahead of profit. As a PR professional questions of these companies ethical principles raise a red flag.

The major question this raise is does Twitter and Facebook favor profits over the importance of free speech or is it because they have few offices in the global market that they feel that this code of conduct is irrelevant to them. As PR professionals ethics is a huge concern for us we constantly debate doing what is right by our clients or what is right by what we believe.

An important portion of PRSA ethics is to protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information, these social media companies, which are now heavily relied upon by PR professionals is not upholding to this ethic. As a PR professional what do you do? I think the majority of this would need to be addressed if the client was working in such countries that promote such censorship of the Internet because social media is such a user based tool and will vary in content depending on the country. It unfortunately is something that is probably a case by case basis which many times is how a PR professional must deal with problems related to ethics.