Policies and Guidelines in the Creation and Management of Official Social Media Accounts of the BIR

October 1, 2021 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 7-2022 SUBJECT : Policies and Guidelines in the Creation and Management of Official Social Media Accounts of the BIR TO : All Internal Revenue Officials and Employees, and Others Concerned I. BACKGROUND On May 24, 2018, through the issuance of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 24-2018, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officially adapted the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) as additional platform to widely and quickly disseminate information on new tax laws and regulations, policies, processes, procedures, updates on various programs and projects of the Bureau, and other tax-related information. Through the years, the Bureau's social media contents have evolved from simple text and snapshots of BIR Website contents into more engaging social media cards, educational videos and instructional audiovisual presentations. During this time of COVID-19 pandemic, the BIR has also used Facebook to broadcast its conduct of webinars and other tax campaign activities, including special events. In view of the challenges and restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BIR will continue to optimize the use of social media in reaching out to taxpayers and informing them about updates in the Bureau's tax compliance requirements. Since the BIR's Revenue District Offices (RDOs) have already initiated the creation of their own social media accounts (Facebook and YouTube) to disseminate tax information to their taxpayers, there is a need to set the policies and guidelines for the management of each office's social media accounts. II. OBJECTIVES This Order is issued to: 1. Establish the policies and guidelines for the creation and management of official social media accounts of the Bureau; 2. Create Primary Social Media Team and Sub-Social Media Team in the BIR National Office and regional/district offices, respectively; and 3. Define the roles and responsibilities of Primary and Sub-Social Media Teams and other concerned BIR offices in the management of BIR social media sites. III. DEFINITION OF TERMS 1. Social Media the different internet sites, virtual communities and networks designed for social interaction among people where they can create, share or exchange information and ideas. Among these are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 2. Facebook an online social networking service where users may create personal profiles, gain friends, exchange messages, post updates and receive notifications. Additionally, users may log in to common-interest user groups organized by workplace or other characteristics. 3. Facebook Page a public profile specifically created for businesses, brands, celebrities, causes, and other organizations. Unlike personal profiles, pages do not gain "friends," but "followers" which are people who choose to "like" a page. Users can access the platform through the website interface via desktop or mobile device. 4. Facebook Page Reach the number of people who saw any content from a page or about a page, including posts, stories, ads, social information from people who interact with page and more. Reach is different from impressions, which may include multiple views of posts by the same people. 5. Facebook Page Reach Percentage Increase the percentage increase in FB page reach (as defined in Section III.4 of this Order) for a particular semestral period compared to the previous semester. 6. Twitter an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read short 280-character messages, called "tweets." It is another platform used in open exchange of information wherein registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users can access the platform through the website interface via desktop or mobile device. 7. YouTube a video-sharing website wherein users are allowed to upload, view, and share videos. Available content includes video clips, TV clips, music videos, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos. Users can access the platform through the website interface via desktop or mobile device. 8. Netizen an entity or person actively participating or involved in online communities, an avid user of the internet, or an internet user who contributes to the worldwide web's use and growth. 9. Primary Social Media Account refers to the social media accounts (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter) that are created, maintained, utilized, and supervised by the Public Information and Education Division-National Office), and serves as primary source of information for dissemination to taxpayers nationwide. 10. Sub-Social Media Accounts refers to the social media accounts (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter) that are created, maintained, utilized, and supervised by the Revenue Regions (RRs) or Revenue District Office (RDOs); and which are listed and declared as the official social media accounts of RR/RDO in a revenue issuance to be issued by the BIR. 11. Focal Person refers to a person who shall act as the overall coordinator/focal point responsible for ensuring the sub team's effective communication and collaboration with the primary social media team, among others. IV. COVERAGE This Order shall cover all revenue offices in the creation and management of various official social media platforms of the Bureau, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. V. POLICIES 1. The following shall be the primary social media accounts of the BIR: Facebook page https://facebook.com/birgovph YouTube https://youtube.com/birgovphl Twitter https://twitter.com/birgovph 2. Regional and district offices shall be allowed to create and manage their respective official Facebook page, YouTube page and Twitter account herein after referred to as sub-Facebook pages, sub-YouTube pages and sub-Twitter accounts, respectively (collectively referred as sub-social media accounts). 3. All sub-social media accounts shall have uniform page names and URL conventions. The account naming convention shall be as follows: Account name: (BIR, Revenue Region or Revenue District Office (do not abbreviate), two-digit Revenue Region number or three-digit Revenue District Office number, -, Place). URL: https://facebook.com/birgovph_(rr/rdo)(two-digit Revenue Region number or three-digit Revenue District Office number) Sample account name and URL are as follows: ACCOUNT NAME URL BIR Revenue Region 01-Calasiao https://facebook.com/birgovph_rr01 https://youtube.com/birgovphl_rr01 BIR Revenue District Office 001-Laoag City https://facebook.com/birgovph_rdo001 https://youtube.com/birgovphl_rdo001 4. Each regional/district office shall be allowed to have only one (1) official sub-FB page, 1 YouTube page, and 1 sub-Twitter account. Only social media accounts approved by the Regional Director/Revenue District Officer, and formally communicated to ACIR, CSS (thru Chief, PIED), shall be recognized as the official sub-social media sites of the said offices. The list of all official social media accounts of BIR regional/district offices shall be published in a Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC); 5. To prevent impersonation and identity misrepresentation, social media pages/accounts that are not included in the list of official social media accounts published in the RMC to be issued by the Bureau are prohibited from using the BIR logo, tax campaign theme and logo and other symbols that represent the BIR's identity as a government agency; 6. Assistant Commissioner (ACIR) and Head Revenue Executive Assistant (HREA) of Client Support Service (CSS) shall serve as Overall Social Media Head and Assistant Social Media Head, respectively, in charge of the overall supervision of social media teams in the responsible administration and management of the social media accounts; 7. There shall be Primary Social Media Team in the BIR National Office and Sub-Social Media Team in each Revenue Region/District Office that has official sub-social media accounts. These shall be composed of the following: Primary Social Media Team : Head : Chief, Public Information and Education Division (PIED) Members : Personnel of PIED Sub-Social Media Team : Head Asst. Regional Director (for regional office)/Asst. RDO (for district office) Members : CSU Head as Focal Person (for regional office)/Designated personnel with Salary Grade of at least 18 as Focal Person (for district office); and at least two (2) designated social media managers/editors (regardless of Salary Grade); 8. It shall be the responsibility of the concerned heads of the primary and sub-social media teams to ensure the accuracy and quality of the content published on respective social media sites. 9. For purposes of evaluating the impact to taxpayers, the primary and sub-social media teams shall submit automatically generated statistics, such as those provided in FB insights/business suite and other similar references. 10. All contents posted in primary social media accounts shall be posted in the sub-social media accounts and shall be done only by sharing/re-twitting the content to such sub-accounts. 11. All tax information materials ( i.e. , instructional video, AVPs, social media cards, etc.) originally created for posting in the sub-social media accounts shall be approved first by the Sub-Social Media Team Head to ensure the accuracy of the information and their compliance with existing rules and regulations of the Bureau, which includes the Data Privacy Act; 12. Office heads in the National Office and Regional/District Offices may request for publication of information materials in social media accounts, for approval by ACIR, CSS (thru PIED Chief) and Sub-Social Media Team Head, respectively; 13. For wider audience reach, the sub-Facebook/YouTube pages shall allow the primary FB page to cross-post contents, including live and pre-recorded events, at all times, with the approval of the overall social media head (ACIR CSS); 14. The BIR logo shall be used as the profile photo of the social media account, while the latest tax campaign theme and logo shall be its cover photo; 15. The following contents are allowed to be posted on the social media pages: Revenue Regulations Revenue Memorandum Orders and Revenue Memorandum Circulars that are relevant to taxpayers Infographics or Video files Social Media Cards o Tax Advisories o BIR News Article (Media Releases and BIR Updates) o Announcements o Job Vacancies o Schedule of Webinars o Other information materials (flyers, posters, etc.) relevant to taxpayers Communications/Information materials from other government agencies as approved by the Primary Social Media Team. 16. Only official information materials approved by the Regional Director/Revenue District Officer and/or Sub-Social Media Team Heads (as specified in Section V.7) shall be posted in the RRs/RDOs' official social media accounts; and 17. To protect the bureau's social media against fake news, phishing scams and other social media security risks, the following postings are strictly prohibited: Advertisements, jokes, personal photos ( e.g. , office outing activities), and other information not related to taxation and not relevant to the BIR or government in general; Personal opinions or statements which do not represent the BIR's view, particularly those pertaining to internal revenue matters, and religious, social, cultural, and/or political issues; Comments, messages, and/or sharing of contents for personal gain such as, but not limited to, asking for likes and reactions on personal Facebook profile, photos, or posts; promotion of personal business and/or any business; and Sharing of information originally posted by a private individual/organization in the official social media accounts. VI. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. CSS The CSS shall be in charge of the overall supervision of the BIR Social Media Teams in the administration and management of the social media accounts. 2. PIED a. Ensure that the information posted in the BIR Primary Social Media Accounts is consistent with the content posted in the BIR Website and/or approved by the BIR Management Committee (MANCOM) for posting, if applicable; b. Act as the BIR Primary Social Media Account Administrator and Content Manager in charge of the maintenance and management of the BIR Primary Social Media Accounts; c. Prepare contents (social media cards, AVPs, etc.) for posting in the BIR Primary Social Media Accounts; d. Review texts/contents of the information materials for posting in the BIR's Primary Social Media Accounts to ensure that they are free from error/s, that the same are informative and helpful to taxpayers, and that they conform with content preparation standards; e. Post only approved tax information in the BIR Primary Social Media Accounts; and f. Share and cross-post relevant tax-related information. g. Prepare the Consolidated Report on Social Media Account Performance (using the template provided in Annex B of this Order) and submit the same to CCS and other concerned offices not later than 25th day following the end of the semester. 3. RRs/RDOs Sub-Social Media Team a. Maintain and manage their respective sub-social media sites; b. Share/retweet to respective sub-social media site all contents posted in Primary Social Media Site; c. Ensure that the information posted on the sub-social media site is consistent with the content posted in the BIR Website and approved following the provisions prescribed under Section V.16 of this Order; d. Ensure that contents for posting are free from error/s, informative and helpful to taxpayers, and that they conform with content preparation standards as stated under Section V.12 of this order; and e. Prepare the report on Social Media Accounts Performance and submit the same not later than 10th day after each semester to PIED via email at [emailprotected] using the template provided in Annex A, together with the required screenshots (samples are shown in Annex C). Considering the rapidly evolving features of social media accounts, particularly in report generation, the PIED may issue a memorandum to prescribe report requirements based on the existing capability of social media accounts other than what is specified in this Order. 4. Security Management Division (SMD) under Information Systems Project Management Service (ISPMS) a. Enable in the BIR Web Content Filtering Solution the official BIR primary and sub-social media sites to be accessed by authorized PIED/RR/RDO personnel in their BIR workstation and set the settings for these sites based on the existing internet and network security policies of the Bureau; b. Endorse the same to NMTSD to implement policy in BIR Firewall; and c. Monitor administrators of BIR official social media accounts on their compliance to existing security policies of the Bureau. 5. Network Management and Technical Support Division (NMTSD) under Information Systems Development & Operations Service (ISDOS) a. Process request for Internet Access from authorized PIED personnel, RDO and RR; and b. Implement policy so that authorized personnel will be able to access social media accounts, and set the settings for these accounts based on the existing internet and network security policies of the Bureau. 6. Administrative Systems Division (ASD) under ISPMS Provide technical support to PIED 7. Revenue Data Center (RDC) under ISDOS a. Assist in processing requests for Internet Access from authorized RRs/RDOs personnel; and b. Assist in maintaining computers with internet connection and social media access of existing sub-social media teams. VII. REPEALING CLAUSE All other revenue issuances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. VIII. EFFECTIVITY This Order shall take effect immediately. (SGD.) CAESAR R. DULAY Commissioner of Internal Revenue ANNEX A Report on Social Media Accounts Performance ANNEX B Consolidated Report on Social Media Accounts Performance ANNEX C I. FACEBOOK: A step-by-step guide to analyzing your Facebook performance and capturing the necessary Facebook Screenshot. 1. Go to your Facebook Page and select Facebook Business Suite. 2. Select Insights to go to the Overview tab, which displays all of your Page's analytics. 3. Select the start and end dates in the top left corner ( e.g. , results for the first semester of 2021, from January 1 to June 30, 2021). 4. Focus on Facebook Page Reach and click see results report. 5. The information needed for your reportorial requirements, using the template provided in Annex A, which contains 1. Page Reach and 2. Percentage Increase/Decrease will now be reflected (in the given example, Page Reach is 7,199,105, and Percentage Increase/Decrease is 406.4%). The screenshot shown below is likewise mandatory and must be sent to PIED with your Annex A. Required Screenshot (Facebook Performance) II. YOUTUBE: A step-by-step guide to analyzing your YouTube performance and capturing the necessary YouTube Screenshot. 1. Go to your YouTube Page and select YouTube Studio. 2. Choose Analytics from the left menu. 3. Click Reach and select the start and end dates located in the top left. 4. The total number of Views is one of the information needed as part of your reportorial requirements. In the below example, Views are 334.4k. Calculate your Percentage Increase/Decrease by comparing your previous semester's Views; write N/A if not applicable. The screenshot below is also required and must be provided to PIED along with your Annex A. Required Screenshot (YouTube Performance) III. TWITTER: A step-by-step guide to analyzing your Twitter performance and capturing the necessary Twitter Screenshot. 1. Go to your Twitter Page and select More. A dialog box will appear, select Analytics. 2. The number of Followers is part of your reporting information; for example, number of Followers is 10K as of end of the semester. Calculate your Percentage Increase/Decrease by comparing your Followers from the previous semester; if not applicable, type N/A. The screenshot below is also necessary and should be submitted with your Annex A to PIED. Required Screenshot (Twitter Performance)