Social media policy and guidelines for member engagement

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has an active presence on several social media platforms including accounts, profiles, and groups on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This policy provides guidance to users on how to interact with us via social media and how we will seek to interact in response.

Our social media channels are operated by the IFoA, a professional body incorporated by Royal Charter (company number RC000243). Its principal office is at 1-3 Staple Inn Hall, High Holborn, London, WC1V 7QJ.

Communicating with the IFoA via social media

The IFoA welcomes communication about our projects and activities. We will attempt to provide responses to questions and comments that have been made in good faith.

We ask for your comments across our social media platforms and our own website to be respectful, appropriate, and mindful of the individuals who work with or for us.

Views and endorsement

The views and opinions expressed by any user or third party using our social media channels do not necessarily reflect the views of the IFoA nor should they be construed to be an endorsement or promotion by the IFoA.

Actions that do not constitute an endorsement by the IFoA include:

  • following and connecting with accounts
  • liking, favouriting, sharing, and retweeting content and posts by others
  • posting and sharing content from other channels

Nature of comments

We ask that comments are not rude, offensive, or illegal. It is an offence for a person to use threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, another person harassment, alarm, or distress (as defined by the Public Order Act 1986 as amended or replaced).

If rude, offensive, or illegal online comments are directed at the IFoA or individuals working with or for us, we ​​and our representatives will not engage with these comments. We may report them to the platform if they break that platform’s rules, or to the police if they break the law.

The IFoA and its representatives will not directly engage with posts that:

  • are abusive, offensive, threatening, disruptive, or highly inappropriate
  • contain someone else’s personal information
  • are illegal
  • suggest or glamorise illegal activity
  • relate to cases that are in the process of litigation
  • relate to disciplinary proceedings
  • are irrelevant to the topic at hand
  • constitute spam under the social media platform’s rules
  • are defamatory (damaging to someone’s reputation or the reputation of an organisation or company)
  • are in contempt of court (anything that could affect the outcome of a court case)
  • infringe anyone’s rights (including privacy rights)
  • put children or vulnerable adults at risk
  • are posted for financial gain (for example advertising and sponsorship)
  • are off topic where there is a specific topic: (this includes commenting for the purpose of derailing the conversation with the intention of discussing another topic)
  • do not comply with the social media platform’s own rules or guidelines

Social media platforms’ terms and conditions

Social media platforms have their own terms and conditions of use. All their users, including the IFoA and those who interact with us via such platforms, are bound by those terms and conditions and any relevant laws.

As such, we do not have any control over how social media platforms or their parent companies apply their respective terms and conditions or use the content and information you share with them. Such info may also be used by other third parties beyond the control of the IFoA or the social media platforms in question.

We are not responsible for the privacy, security, or any other policies implemented by these social media platforms or any other such third parties. If you access and engage with the IFoA via social media, you do so at your own risk. The IFoA disclaims any liability for any losses or other damage you suffer because of your use of social media platforms or failure to read to their own terms and conditions.

Protecting your privacy

You must not share any personal data about yourself or anyone else (for example details about accounts, logins, finances, or other personal details) via our social media accounts. We will never ask for your personal data, including your account information, or direct you to a web or app page that asks for this information.

If you have a complaint or question about your account or our products and services, please refer to our contact us page. From there you can get in touch with the specific team.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage that may result from you sharing any personal data via our social media.

Please be aware that:

  • social media is treated as the public domain: our social media accounts are public and any contribution you make will be available for anyone to see
  • messages sent over the internet or via apps may not be completely secure and may be intercepted, lost, or altered

The security of your messages on social media is not within our control. We will not be liable to you or anyone else for any loss or damage in connection with any online message sent by you to us or by us to you.

Third-party websites

Links to third-party websites may be provided by us, users of our social media channels, or third parties. We are not responsible for such websites or their content or availability. We do not endorse or make any promises about them, any material on these websites, or any results that may be obtained from using them. If you access these websites this will be entirely at your own risk, and we accept no responsibility for any loss or damage that may arise.

Downloadable software

Links to downloadable software that may be available on social media platforms or third-party websites that are linked on our social media channels are not provided, endorsed, or checked by us. We are not responsible for such software or liable for any difficulties or consequences associated with downloading the software. Any software you download is at your own risk.

For more details on how to keep safe online please visit getsafeonline.org

For further information relating to what we do with your personal data please see our privacy policy.

Management of our channels

We reserve the right to contact you via social media or other means where we have received complaints about material you have posted on our social media channels. We may ask you to remove certain material where it does not comply with these terms or the law of any country. We also reserve the right to moderate any material posted on our social media channels.

Moderation of content

Where we moderate material before it is posted to our social media channels, we may, at our discretion, refrain from publishing certain material posted by you. Similarly, where we moderate material after it is posted to our social media channels, we may choose to remove material posted by you.

For example, if we consider the material posted by you to be inappropriate for any reason, we may choose to refrain from posting it or to delete it from the relevant social media channels (although we shall not be required to do so). We shall be under no obligation to notify you of such decision.

Please note, however, that sometimes it may not be possible for us to moderate our social media channels and that our social media channels may be abused by third parties. Therefore we cannot promise that unsuitable third-party material will never appear on our social media channels.

It should also be noted that social media platforms use artificial intelligence and automated systems to moderate their platforms. This means your content may be moderated or removed before we have noticed it.

Suspending or terminating access

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to all or any of our social media channels if you fail to comply with these terms. Users who make serious criticisms of the IFoA from anonymous accounts will also be blocked, unless there are very strong reasons for the user maintaining that anonymity.

Language

The language of our social media channels is English, and any material and content posted by you should be made in English. We are unable to respond to comments or messages in other languages. This may mean in some instances that we need to remove material if we cannot be certain of its content.

Contacting us

The IFoA’s social media accounts are used to keep in touch with our members and the wider public, and they are managed by our employees, volunteers, or agents selected by us. While these individuals regularly update and monitor our social media channels, they may not always be able to read all messages and comments or reply individually to them via these social media.

Providing advice

While we want to be helpful and answer relevant questions from you, we do not provide legal, pension, tax, investment, or other specialist advice through our social media channels. If you require such advice or help, please visit our contact us page.

Neither this policy nor any opinion or content provided by us on any of our social media channels is intended to be a financial promotion (an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity), offer, advice, or recommendation. The content provided by us on our social media channels is for information purposes only and should not be relied upon without seeking appropriate advice.

Other IFoA terms and conditions

Any products and services which may be referred to on our social media (for example exam bookings and events) are subject to their own eligibility criteria as well as relevant terms and conditions.

Disclaimers and liability

We do not guarantee that any of our social media channels, or any content on them, will always be available or uninterrupted. From time to time, we may at our discretion change, suspend, or permanently withdraw all or part of our social media channels without prior notice. For example, we may do so if we are experiencing technical issues relating to our social media channels. You are free to stop using our social media channels at any time.

We do not guarantee that any content posted by us on our social media channels is accurate, complete, or up to date. We will have no liability to you if it is not.

Please keep in mind that other users of our social media who provide material may claim expertise or standing that they do not possess. You should give careful thought before following any advice posted by other users who are not verifiable as representing us. We do not endorse or approve any advertisements posted by third parties on our social media channels. Any use or reliance is at your own risk.

We are not responsible for:

  • loss or damage caused by your or others’ breach of our terms
  • loss or damage from you sharing your personal data or anyone else’s personal data on our social media channels
  • loss or damage that is a side effect of the main loss or damage and that neither you nor we could have reasonably foreseen at the time of entering into these terms – for example loss of profits or loss of opportunity
  • loss or damage in connection with any third-party website, applications, advertisements, or software linked from or referred to on our social media channels
  • loss or damage caused by viruses arising from harmful content, which may infect your device, data, or other material
  • all conditions, warranties, representations, and other terms that might apply to our social media channels or any content on it, whether express or implied to the extent permitted by the laws of England and Wales

This does not exclude or limit our liability for:

  • death or personal injury caused by negligence
  • fraud
  • misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter
  • any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under the laws of England and Wales

Governing law

This policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Disputes arising in connection with these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.