Communicating online: proposed guidance for social workers

First draft published: 20 August 2025

• Why we have published this guidance
• About this guidance
• Terminology
• General principles for social workers communicating online
• How we will consider concerns raised in relation to social workers communicating online

Why we have published this guidance

Communicating with people is at the heart of social work. Today, there are more ways for social workers to communicate with people online than ever. Social workers use these technologies to support their work with people, to network with colleagues, and to develop their skills and knowledge.  

Social workers in England must uphold the professional standards. These standards apply to all social workers in all roles and all settings, and set out what they must know, understand and be able to do in order to practise safely and effectively.  

Communicating online can blur the boundaries between professional and personal, and it can change the way people share their views.  Being online can make people feel bolder or less careful about what they say. This can make it harder to recognise what is, and is not, appropriate or in alignment with the professional standards. 

This guidance is intended to help social workers continue to meet the professional standards when they are communicating online. This is to protect them and the people they support, but also to maintain confidence in the wider social work profession. 

About this guidance

This guidance does not create any new obligations or standards, but provides more detail about our expectations of social workers communicating online. This is to help social workers use their professional judgement when they are using any online communication tool.  

Many of the expectations in this guidance are similar to what’s expected of professionals in any job. However, social workers have extra responsibilities because they help to protect vulnerable children and adults from harm or abuse. So, it’s important that expectations of social workers as regulated professionals are clear, and that we focus on reducing the potential for harm when communicating online.  

As technology and social media are rapidly evolving, and people’s habits, expectations and social norms can change quickly there are some things we cannot give specific advice or instructions about, or seek to influence. They are (all of the following): 

• individual tools (apps, platforms or other methods) methods of communication 
• how to communicate, or which tools you should use in a specific context. 
• everything we may need to consider when we receive concerns about a social worker’s fitness to practise. This is because this may depend on the nature of the concerns that we receive.  

Alongside this guidance for social workers, we have published guidance to help our decision makers when they are considering concerns raised with us about a social worker’s online communication. There is more information below about how we will consider these concerns.  

We will keep this guidance under review and will revise it when necessary. 

Terminology

When we talk about ‘communicating online’ in this guidance, it covers all the different ways people communicate using technology - whether it's posting on social media, sending messages, sharing content, or any other digital interaction including (any of the following): 

• email 
• messaging, and audio and video calling apps 
• social media, including professional networking platforms 
• blogs and online message boards 
• management information platforms, such as case management systems 

It includes using online communications tools to (any of the following): 

• communicate directly with another person or group of people, (for example, through a messaging app), or more broadly (such as by posting on a blog or social network).  
• communicate privately (only the individuals communicating can see the messages) or publicly (other people will see the messages at any time). 
• communicate in real-time (instant communication with immediate replies, such as a messaging app or a video call) or communicating when it suits you - this means leaving messages that people can read and reply to whenever they want, like posting on a social networking site or writing a blog post that others can comment on later. 
• communicate using apps, platforms or technologies available today, or new ones that may develop in the future. 
• communicate directly with a person or to view what somebody has communicated previously (to you, somebody else, or publicly). 

General principles for social workers communicating online

You should exercise your professional judgment to assess whether your online communication use is in alignment with the professional standards. Sometimes it is not easy to recognise the most appropriate course of action—for example, where you need to weigh different expectations from 2 or more standards that are all relevant in a complex situation.  

Whether or not this is the case, you should ensure you consider the following factors when communicating online.  

At the end of each section, we have listed the professional standards that are most relevant to that principle. 

Security 

You must uphold the privacy, confidentiality, and dignity of the people you support, as well as your colleagues and the people they support. This means that you should (do all of the following): 

• never post confidential or identifiable information about the people you or your colleagues support. This includes information which, even though anonymised, could identify someone when taken together with other information. 
• apply, and know how to adjust, your privacy settings. You should be confident that you know who will see any information you share online, and that it will only be available to appropriate people. 
• remember that your profiles and accounts may be searchable by others. Platforms can set, or reset, your privacy settings to a default with a lower level of privacy than is appropriate. You should review your privacy settings regularly. 
• remember that you should not rely on even the highest level of privacy to stop others resharing content. You should remember that content posted anonymously or under a pseudonym may still be traced back to you.    
• always remember the possibility that users will reshare the content you have posted on their own social network, potentially leading to rapid sharing with a large number of users. It may not be possible to control how widely it is shared. 

Relevant professional standards: 1.7, 2.2, 2.6, 3.1, and 5.6 

Accountability 

You are responsible for what you communicate online, even if you are relaying or reposting someone else’s content. You should (do all of the following): 

• consider how other users can identify you. Can people tell that you are a social worker by your profile or other details? How might any views you express be seen in the context of your professional duties? 
• carefully consider the content you are communicating. Who will be able to view and share it, and the impact that it could have, especially if it is found, read or shared by somebody else online? 
• note that previous online communication may be considered against our professional standards, even if you were not a registered professional at the time of that activity. 
• not post anything which might damage confidence in your work or in the profession. If you think that something you communicate online could objectively be considered inappropriate or offensive if made public, you should think carefully whether to share it or not.   
• know what to do if there is a data breach, whether caused by you or somebody else. If you are communicating online as part of your practice, you must be familiar with your organisation’s data protection procedures. This is so that you know how to respond if a data breach occurs. 

As standard 5.6 of the professional standards makes clear, you should not use technology, social media or other forms of electronic communication unlawfully, unethically, or in a way that brings the profession into disrepute.

Using the right tools 

You should be confident that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of using different communications tools, so that you can choose a tool that is appropriate for the type of communication and the needs of the people you are communicating with. You should take responsibility for maintaining and developing your skills and knowledge so that you can make this choice in an informed way.  

Using the right tool for your intended purpose makes it easier for you to be confident that you understand how the content you communicate is seen, shared or retained, and that any personal data is handled and protected appropriately. 

Relevant professional standards: 1.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.10 and 5.6 

Maintaining boundaries 

You should be proactive in identifying and understanding any relevant legal frameworks or policies when you are communicating online to support your practice. For example (any of the following): 

• your employer’s data protection or social media policy 
• manufacturer or developer usage policies 
• the law 

You should maintain clear professional boundaries. You should know whether you are identifiable as a social worker from the content you communicate or from your wider online presence, and consider carefully what the impact of identifying yourself as a social worker may be on (any of the following): 

• how people interpret the content you post 
• your suitability to work as a social worker  
• people’s trust in the wider profession.  

You should consider whether you should have separate personal and professional accounts or profiles. You should always be clear about who should have  access to anything you communicate online.  

Relevant professional standards: 1.7, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.7, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.6 

If in doubt, seek advice  

Seek advice from those around you if you are unsure about how you or someone else communicated online. You may consider (either of the following): 

• consulting your employer’s policies on social media, data protection or communicating online 
• asking advice from your peers, more experienced colleagues at work, or your manager. 

Trade unions and professional associations may also be able to provide advice, and our professional standards guidance provides more information about communicating online. 

How we will consider concerns raised in relation to social workers communicating online

Everyone is entitled to their own private lives, and to hold and express their own views. This is no different for social workers. However, like all trusted professionals, social workers also need to reflect on how they express their views and the impact this may have on their professional standing, the people they support, and the public’s confidence in the social work profession. 

When we say that a social worker is ‘fit to practise’, we mean that they have the skills, knowledge, character and health to practise their profession safely and effectively without restriction. Fitness to practise is not just about professional performance. It also includes acts by a social worker which may damage public confidence in the profession and can include conduct that takes place outside of the workplace.  

Social workers should be aware that communicating online in a way that does not align with the professional standards can lead to concerns being raised about their fitness to practise. We will consider any concerns we receive by reviewing the content. We will review concerns with reference to the professional standards and the guidance we offer to social workers, and in line with the law.  

We triage any concerns we receive about online communication. We consider whether there are reasonable grounds to investigate whether the social worker’s fitness to practise is impaired.  

We assess the allegations by considering the questions set out in our decision making guidance—concerns relating to social workers communicating online.