Colleagues social media - WWYD

[Colleaguedilemma99]

Name changed

I saw on Facebook a colleague was suggested as a friend I may know. Not really friends but had a nose on profile. To my disgust, there are retweets of anti BLM posts and also a post saying he had beat up a man that said something to his kid.

This colleague is a senior manager in a public company. I’m not jealous, we are not competitors so that is. It my angle but wibu to report this?

Would he lose his job or get a telling off. I have seen him be unpleasant before and I feel like he should be pulled to task but equally it’s a tough economic time if he were to lose his job. I don’t think that would happen. I could imagine they publically re-educate him, so they save face and he “learns”. The posts are disgusting so that would be false.

Voting yes - ignore, Ainu

       No - reports, this is wrong

just block

Were the posts about the 2 police officers shot by blm protesters the other day?

Does he mention where he works anywhere on his profile? For me that makes the difference between being viewed as just a member of the public vs a representative of the company.

Being a nazi protester is quite a world a away from disagreeing with BLM as a political group. When you say ‘anti BLM’ what exactly does that mean in terms of his posts?

This

It depends what you mean by anti BLM posts

And this.

Amidst the calls to lynch this man, even though we don’t know what he has actually said, it is cheering to see some sense displayed.

I’ll tell you what is really chilling: the compulsion to report somebody who says something you don’t like.

Incidentally, to clear up a poster’s misunderstanding upthread, a public company is one quoted on a stock exchange. The public sector is something entirely different.

I would report it, even if it was just printing off screenshots (cropped carefully to hide anything that could trace it back to me) and posting them to HR, the company board and his managers.

What does your company policy say about social media?

The claiming to beat a man up is surely not a good image for the company.

You haven't actually said what he's written but op, if you do report him do bare in mind it could backfire on you and you'll come off looking spiteful to your employer

Are any of your other colleagues on his friends list? They will have seen his posts.

I find racism abhorrent. I'm also anti very many aspects of the BLM movement which I also think are abhorrent.

Should I be sent off to a reeducation camp?

@OlympicProcrastinator

For beating a man up? Yes.

For tweeting against the BLM movement? No. We don’t (yet) live in a fascist state and sacking people for ‘wrong think’ is a slippery slope.

This path of self righteous thinking, deciding that anyone with different views should be sacked / no platformed etc etc is so dangerous.

My hero is Darryl Davies. He turned hundreds of men away from the KKK. By allowing them to talk. Listening. Understanding where they got their world view from. Opening up conversation. Asking questions.

Sorry I know it’s off topic but I find this new stasi like monitoring of views terrifying and it pushes people toward extreme groups.

This. From what you’ve said in your post it could be as simple as he doesn’t agree with all of BLM manifesto... that is not hate speech or inciting violence, it is an opinion which people are still entitled to (for now)

I would report it, even if it was just printing off screenshots (cropped carefully to hide anything that could trace it back to me) and posting them to HR, the company board and his managers.

This gives me the creeps. It ticks all three boxes: intrusive, deluded and cowardly.

If he’s posting racist posts and admitting to beating someone up then yes I bloody well would report him.

And for those accusing the OP of snooping, it’s a public profile and she was sent him as a suggested friend. I thought everyone looked at profiles if they were suggested someone they knew, and if that profile is public then it’s fair game.

It’s because people don’t want to get involved that people like him feel free to hold the abhorrent views and conduct the abhorrent behaviours that they do. Who knows, the person this bloke beat up may have gone to the police and the police might be looking for clues as to who the culprit was.

would report it, even if it was just printing off screenshots (cropped carefully to hide anything that could trace it back to me) and posting them to HR, the company board and his managers.

This gives me the creeps. It ticks all three boxes: intrusive, deluded and cowardly.

It gives me the creeps as well. I can just imagine some creepy, sneaky individual slithering their way to the HR office, looking from side to side to check that no one is looking then dropping the envelope with the 'evidence' on a table before slithering away. Ugh.

Don't report him, it could backfire on you at some point.
If you have seen his profile then it's obviously not set to private. Which means anyone can see it anytime.......

He might day vile things but YABU if you report him. What he thinks in his private life is none of your business. Just ignore him.

This gives me the creeps. It ticks all three boxes: intrusive, deluded and cowardly.

Is it fuck - I’ve seen first hand how being the one to stick your head above the parapet gets you shot at, not the person against whom you’ve blown the whistle. Why else do some companies have whistleblowing lines that are completely anonymous? It’s not “intrusive” if this person has posted publicly and how the fuck is it “deluded”?

If racism isn’t called out it carries on but sometimes you need to protect yourself too.

@OlympicProcrastinator

For beating a man up? Yes.

For tweeting against the BLM movement? No. We don’t (yet) live in a fascist state and sacking people for ‘wrong think’ is a slippery slope.

This path of self righteous thinking, deciding that anyone with different views should be sacked / no platformed etc etc is so dangerous.

My hero is Darryl Davies. He turned hundreds of men away from the KKK. By allowing them to talk. Listening. Understanding where they got their world view from. Opening up conversation. Asking questions.

Sorry I know it’s off topic but I find this new stasi like monitoring of views terrifying and it pushes people toward extreme groups.

Couldn't agree more.

Like some other people here I think you need to explain what exactly these posts were. Is it on the lines of "George Floyd deserved to be killed" or "I think some of the tactics used by the BLM political movement may be counterproductive".

Nope I wouldn't report him, I wouldn't be impressed with him, although it depends what he actually said, you haven't clarified yet. But no, I'm not going to start reporting people for their posts on Facebook

Firstly. your company will, or should have a Social Media policy. You and he should know what it says. Ours, for example, says of personal SM.

"The use by colleagues of any personal social media is subject to the Business Code of Conduct and all applicable company policies, including policies regarding conflicts of interest and harassment of, or discrimination against, others"

The political posts may or may not contravene a policy like that depending on how they were worded. The description of assault certainly would. I personally would bring the assault description to the attention of HR, like others I would have to know what the political content actually was and what the policy said in regard to them.

We don't live in a police state, thank God.

Being unpleasant is not a crime. Holding negative views on BLM ( the organisation) is not a crime. His employer doesn't own him. He is entitled to think what he likes in his own time. I would not link to him as a friend and I'd downvote his post if that is an option.

But I'd only raise it if he is an HR decision maker or strategist. Or if he was spouting his bigotry in work.

If he's an engineer or scientist, his personal views do not impact his ability to do his job.

Don't report him OP. Maybe suggest he locks down his profile though. Not supporting BLM isn't a crime, The beating someone up is, but you don't know the full story on that.

report to his employer.

He is bringing them into disrepute, especially if his social media says where he works. I had to deal with a similar case with a client recently. They ended up with hundreds of emails & tweets about a guy very similar situation.

Is it fuck - I’ve seen first hand how being the one to stick your head above the parapet gets you shot at, not the person against whom you’ve blown the whistle. Why else do some companies have whistleblowing lines that are completely anonymous? It’s not “intrusive” if this person has posted publicly and how the fuck is it “deluded”?

If racism isn’t called out it carries on but sometimes you need to protect yourself too.

So glad you asked!

Unilaterally appointing yourself as the ‘wrong think’ police and taking matters into your own hands, ie anonymously sending evidence of somebody’s (in your opinion) seditious opinions to that person’s line manager, the HR team and, for Christ’s sake, the board of a public company, is nothing if not intrusive. Can’t you see that?

You are deluded if you think that you will change somebody’s mind by reporting them. You’re not at nursery school any more. Nobody is going to have a word with this man to tell him to share the Lego, or whatever. The grown up world is a bit more complicated than that.

Your post makes your priorities clear anyway: looking after yourself, despite your stance of acting for the common good.

Does he have his place of work listed on his profile, or talk about walk? If so that's right to report on based on my social media policy - but check yours first. If there's no way to link him with work then he can be as vile as he likes