Social Media Policy

The Rail Ombudsman uses social media to reach online audiences and share information about our service with consumers and other stakeholders.

Our X account (@RailOmbudsman) is managed by the communications staff at the Rail Ombudsman. We update and monitor our X account during normal working hours (Monday – Friday 0900 – 1700).

We may monitor or respond from time to time outside these hours. We read all @replies and Direct Messages (DM) sent to us, and we will respond to as many as possible.

We may use social media platforms to:

• talk about the work we do with our service providers to raise industry standards
• reach a wider audience
• promote events, news pieces and other similar literature
• learn about consumers and their needs
• pass on relevant information from third parties.

Social Media complements the Rail Ombudsman’s website and, when possible, will direct users back to the website for in-depth information, forms, and other documents.  We will not discuss complaints directly via social media and will avoid escalation in the public domain. Our communications should be clear and easy to understand.

We may retweet links and content that we find relevant to our work and of interest to our followers. Retweets do not imply endorsement by the Rail Ombudsman.  Links to external sites are provided solely for the convenience and interest of the user. The Rail Ombudsman is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained on those sites, nor does it endorse the sites or their content.

We follow X accounts that are relevant to our work. This could include the X accounts of individuals, as well as organisations, both public and private. Our decision to follow a particular X user does not imply endorsement of any kind and does not mean that the Rail Ombudsman supports that user, or his or her views.

We welcome and encourage all comments and expect conversations will be carried out in a respectful manner. Please avoid personal attacks and keep your comments relevant. The Rail Ombudsman does not tolerate offensive, disrespectful, or abusive comments about an individual, our organisation or any of the Service Providers. We will read all replies and direct messages sent to us and, when possible, will reply. We reserve the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this social media policy or any applicable law such as data protection legislation.

The following will not be allowed:

• abusive, obscene, indecent, or offensive language
• defamatory, harassing, hateful remarks or accusations against individuals or organisations
• comments that are discriminatory based on race, national or ethnic origin, age, creed, gender, marital status, socio-economic status, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation
• sexual content or links to sexual content
• comments containing solicitations, advertisements, announcements, or endorsements of any commercial, financial, labour, or political organisation
• excessive links and code
• posts revealing too much personal information
• content that violates legal ownership interest of any other party
• posts not topically related to the site or material being commented on
• posts that are repetitive or are considered spam, such as the same comment being posted repeatedly.

In instances where a consumer needs to first go through to one of the Service Provider’s internal procedures before contacting us we will refer that consumer to the relevant Service Provider.

Those who choose to engage in conversation with the Rail Ombudsman via social media should be aware that they do so within the public domain. To protect your privacy and that of others, we recommend that you do not include personal information in your posts.

If a consumer engages the Rail Ombudsman via social media in Welsh, translation services shall be used on an ad-hoc basis.

Some of the staff at the Rail Ombudsman tweet under their own names, as private citizens. Despite their professional affiliation with the Rail Ombudsman, their tweets or retweets do not represent the official position of the Rail Ombudsman.

Personal information that you provide to the Rail Ombudsman through social media is collected, used, and disclosed by our office for its mandated purpose and in accordance with our data retention policy.

X accounts are hosted by a third party and not by the Rail Ombudsman. You should read X’s terms of service and privacy policy before engaging in its use.

If you have any questions or comments about our use of social media, please contact our office by e-mail at info@railombudsman.org