Ahead of another presidential election in the digital age, the Office of Special Counsel issued updated guidance on adhering to the Hatch Act as it pertains to federal employees’ use of social media and email.
The 1939 Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from taking part in certain partisan political activities during elections, namely fundraising and using official agency resources to endorse a candidate or their views.
“Generally, federal employees can avoid violating the Hatch Act if they (1) do not engage in political activity while on duty or in the workplace; (2) do not engage in political activity in an official capacity at any time; and (3) do not solicit or receive political contribution at any time,” according to an OSC memo issued Nov. 12.
However, federal employees are allowed to express their support for candidates through social media, so long as they don’t do so while on the job.
The OSC memo to agencies outlined the most significant updates to the guidance:
- Federal employees may display campaign logos or candidate photographs as their cover or header photo situated at the top of their social media profiles on their personal Facebook or Twitter accounts.
- However, because a profile picture accompanies most actions on social media, employees would not be permitted, while on duty or in the workplace, to post, “share,” “tweet” or “retweet” any items on Facebook or Twitter, since each such action would show their support for a partisan group or candidate in a partisan race, even if the content of the action is not about those entities.
- “Further restricted employees” — similar to all federal employees — may “like” a social media post from a partisan group or candidate in a partisan race and may comment on such an entity’s social media pages when not at work. Note: No federal employee may “like” a post soliciting for partisan political contributions at any time. Most “further restricted employees” work in law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Specific questions not addressed in the FAQ should be directed to OSC at HatchAct@osc.gov.
