Navigating our personal use of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence – New Draft Guidance for Public Servants

November 12, 2024 - Defence Stories

In September 2023, the Clerk of the Privy Council formed the Deputy Ministers’ Task Team on Values and Ethics to lead a broad conversation with public servants on how to bring our Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector to life within a dynamic and increasingly complex environment.

In the Task Team’s final report to the Clerk of the Privy Council, they noted that many public servants had called for information and guidance on the impact of technologies and the complex challenges they pose in maintaining transparency and accountability, as well as public trust in the integrity of information and institutions.

The Government of Canada has developed two new pieces of guidance, aiming to help public servants navigate the challenges of social media and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their daily work.

Draft Guidance for Personal use of Social Media

Social media and technology have made it challenging to separate our work and personal lives. This has led to questions about how what we say online can affect our Public Service values of respect for democracy and people. It also raises concerns about being non-partisan, even when we're not at work.

As part of the Symposium on Values and Ethics on October 15, the Chief Human Resources Officer shared draft Guidance for Public Servants on their Personal Use of Social Media.

This draft guidance aims to:

• Bring together information about our existing responsibilities as public servants and personal use of social media;
• Describe the existing requirements and how they impact our personal use of social media; and,
• Outline best practices and considerations, and questions to ask ourselves when we use personal social media.

It aims to help create understanding of how to live up to our responsibilities and values and ethics in a non-partisan, impartial and professional public service that inspires the trust and confidence of Canadians, while respecting individual right to freedom of expression. It is not meant to discourage the use of social media platforms and does not set out new policy or requirements.

Have feedback? You can send it to Integrity-Integrite@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

In addition to this guidance, members of the Canadian Armed Forces can consult additional resources to learn more about the use of social media:

• CANFORGEN: Guidance on social media and other internet communications – personal security (accessible only on the National Defence network)
• CANFORGEN: Guidance on blogs and other internet communications – CF operations and activities (accessible only on the National Defence network)
• Social media familiarization course available through the Defence Learning Network

Guidance for Generative AI

While generative AI tools offer many potential benefits for the Government of Canada, its use must be aligned with and enabled by our values and serves the public interest.

The Government of Canada’s Chief Information Officer (GC CIO) has developed a guidance document to support employees’ use of generative AI, called Generative AI in your daily work. This guidance is a reference tool of the main Guide on the use of generative AI, to help public servants use AI responsibly and in line with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector.

Want to learn more about the use of AI in the workplace? Take the Canada School of Public Service Using Generative AI in the Government of Canada course!