Managing social media risks: lessons for charity trustees

Recent regulatory and legal decisions highlight the growing risks for charity trustees when using social media, both on official charity accounts and on personal profiles. What do trustees need to know to stay compliant and protect their charity’s reputation?

Why social media matters

Social media has fundamentally changed the media and communications landscape. For charities it has a unique ability to engage and motivate supporters, donors and other stakeholders directly and quickly. In the right hands, it can be a helpful tool to further a charity’s purposes. But its use gives rise to legal, regulatory and communications risks that charity trustees need to be aware of and address.

Recent rulings from the Charity Commission and the courts highlight the need for charity trustees to exercise careful oversight over their charity's use of social media. Missteps can lead to regulatory action, reputational damage, and even disqualification.

Oversight is essential

Charity trustees must always act reasonably and prudently in line with the charity's purposes and best interests. This means they must take action to protect the charity's assets, including its goodwill and reputation.

They have ultimate responsibility for ensuring their charity is well-run, effective, and accountable. This means that they are responsible for what is posted on the charity's official social media accounts, just as they are for other activities such as fundraising.

Recent cases in point

In June 2025, the Charity Commission announced that it had issued an Official Warning to the Palestinian Refugee Project after trustees failed to effectively manage the charity's social media, allowing one trustee (who also acted as the charity's voluntary CEO) to control the material that was posted. This resulted in material being posted that was "divisive, inflammatory and/or did not further the objects of the Charity, some of which was political in nature".

The Commission directed the trustees (among other things) to devise and implement an adequate policy on social media, taking into account the regulator's guidance on:

• Charities and social media – which underlines the need for clear internal controls.
• Campaigning and political activity by charities – which emphasises that a charity must only undertake political activity in support of the delivery of its charitable purposes.

The regulator disqualified the person responsible for posting the material from being a trustee and holding a senior management position in any charity for a period of eight years.

Then, in July 2025, the Commission published an inquiry report into the Al-Manar Centre Trust, which operates a mosque in Cardiff, after the charity's chair of trustees (without the knowledge or oversight of the other trustees) posted a video demonstrating support for a proscribed terrorist organisation (Hamas) on the charity's Facebook page.

The regulator found that the video was likely to lead an ordinary member of the public to infer that the charity was supportive of, or glorified, terrorism and so did not further the charity's objectives for the public benefit, instead putting its reputation at risk.

While the charity purported to have a social media policy, it consisted solely of a basic flowchart which failed to meet the required standards – it lacked meaningful guidance and oversight mechanisms.

The Commission:

• Concluded that, due to their lack of oversight, the sharing of the video constituted misconduct and mismanagement by the trustees, as they were collectively responsible for the management and administration of the charity.
• Directed the charity to implement a more comprehensive social media policy and review all the content on its platforms.

Charity trustees' personal accounts: a balancing act

While the position on the use of a charity's social media accounts is abundantly clear, what about posts on a charity trustee's personal accounts?

Earlier this year, the First Tier Tribunal (Charity) overturned the Commission's disqualification of a charity trustee which was based on his past conduct in commenting on and liking some anti-Islamic social media posts, which the Commission regarded as damaging or likely to be damaging to public trust and confidence in charities. This was the first time that a disqualification order has been overturned.

The Tribunal concluded that, while the trustee's conduct on social media was capable of damaging public trust and confidence in charities, it was not sufficient to demonstrate unfitness to be a charity trustee or that it was in the public interest to disqualify him. The posting activity was limited, low-profile and had no obvious connection to any charity.

The tribunal weighed up an individual's right to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authorities against the Commission's power to impose a disqualification order restricting that freedom where necessary to protect the reputation or rights of charities and as a proportionate means of protecting public trust and confidence in charities.

When assessing proportionality, the tribunal considered it was important:

• Not to deter individuals who had a history of social media use from acting as charity trustees.
• To bear in mind that the public might pay less attention to isolated and spontaneous historic posts, even if they could be offensive.

It considered that it was in the best interests of the charity sector "to be able to recruit and retain trustees from across the whole community and with different strengths, skills, views and personalities". While setting a high bar could help protect public trust and confidence in charities, it might deter individuals with a wide range of experience, interests, personalities and attitudes (including those with strong motivation and the ability to motivate others) from volunteering. This could be damaging to the sector in the longer term.

Key takeaways and practical steps

The key takeaways are that trustees are responsible for and should exercise oversight over the use of social media by their charity. Practical steps to take include:

• Review and update your charity’s social media policy. Ensure it is comprehensive, clear, published and followed.
• Limit access to official accounts and monitor content closely.
• Provide training for trustees and staff on appropriate use of social media.
• Be aware of the rules on political activity and ensure all posts further the charity’s objectives.

Trustees should also consider the potential impact on their charity of posting to personal accounts, especially where they could be linked to the charity. Front and centre in a charity trustee's mind should be their duty to act reasonably and prudently in the best interests of their charity.

If you would like advice on reviewing your charity’s social media policy or have concerns about compliance, please contact our Charities team.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, November 2025