Today, in the total normal country that is Australia, the government is trying to crack down on public servants even mildly criticising government policy on social media.
Documents obtained by The Australian show that the government is today seeking to make such incidences punishable by disciplinary action.
That can include anything from sharing a critical post on Facebook, to failing to delete a friend’s critical post on their wall, to privately emailing a mate outside of work hours, or even by sharing an anti-government post with an angry emoji and failing to explain properly that you don’t agree with it.
Good lord.
These new rules could affect almost two million Australians, with the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that 1,924,800 people were working in the public sector as of 2016.
“Of course there needs to be limits but this policy goes too far,” Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood told The Australian. “The notion that the mum of a gay son who happens to work at Centrelink can’t like a Facebook post on marriage equality without endangering her job is patently absurd.”
Since the report was published, people have been highly critical on social media as well.
https://twitter.com/alexanderwhite/status/894300253737725952
https://twitter.com/JoshBBornstein/status/894328676585582592
https://twitter.com/vanbadham/status/894338862641590273
This is an extreme attack on public servants. How would you feel being told you what you can “like” on Facebook? #auspol https://t.co/wOPDeAEUzF
— Unions Tasmania (@TasUnions) August 6, 2017
Normal country, normal proceedings. Carry on.
