UKIP begs members to stop making controversial comments on Facebook and Twitter
UKIP is begging its members to quit Facebook and Twitter, to avoid getting the party in trouble over controversial comments.
New guidance issued to party members pleads with them to consider stepping away from the social networks, after a series of gaffes.
Paul Rimmer, a former UKIP candidate, claimed on Facebook this week that Liverpool FC is cursed by God because the club attended this year’s Liverpool Pride.
A vast number of party officials were recently tricked into following a fake UKIP Twitter account that posted homophobic views, while last month candidate David Little ignited controversy when he posted a comedy map on his Facebook page referring to people from London as ‘cosmopolitan poofters’.
In the party’s latest magazine, chairman Steve Crowther tells members: “My advice: just don’t.”
He wrote: “The NEC has adopted a new set of rules for online communication to fill a notable hole in our code of discipline.
“My advice: just don’t. Remember life before you could delight the whole world with your every passing thought? It wasn’t so bad, was it? I have no Facebook page, Twitter account or Instagram thingy. It’s lovely.”
The party has also banned members from using the UKIP logo on social media without written permission – meaning UKIP members who make homophobic and bigoted comments will be less easily identifiable.
The new rules state: “Party members shall refrain from using the UKIP logo in terms of their online postings, including avatars, unless they have express written consent to do.”
