BBC journalists have been told to avoid any online “virtual signalling” that could indicate a personal political view, as part of a crackdown on their social media accounts by the new director general, Tim Davie. The rules announced on Thursday explicitly state that all BBC employees’ social media accounts – even if labelled as a personal account – should be considered to be subject to public scrutiny. Staff working in the BBC’s news division have been told to avoid expressing a view on any policy that is a matter of current political debate, or publicly supporting campaigns “no matter how apparently worthy the cause or how much their message appears to be accepted or uncontroversial”. The term “virtue signalling” was first defined in an article in the Spectator magazine in 2015 to criticise people who say or write things to make clear they are “admirably non-racist, leftwing or open-minded” – without actually doing anything to change the world. It has since become a popular term on the right, but the BBC guidelines define it more narrowly as “retweets, likes or joining online campaigns to indicate a personal view”. BBC journalists have also been warned to avoid attending most protest marches, even in a personal capacity, to avoid the perception of bias. The rules reiterate a requirement not to publicly criticise fellow BBC employees and warn that using certain emojis in tweets can be seen as a sign of bias. The guidelines are part of an attempt by Davie to reduce accusations of political bias by the BBC at a time when it is under attack from the Conservative government and rightwing media outlets. The new director general said when he took over that he wanted to change how some BBC journalists use their personal accounts on platforms such as Twitter. “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media, then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC,” he said. Staff have been told to stop getting into unnecessary arguments online and warned that building their “personal brand” on social media is secondary to their responsibility as an employee of the BBC. The rules were drawn up by Richard Sambrook, a former director of global news at the BBC and now a professor of journalism at Cardiff University. While many of the rules will apply to all BBC employees, including freelance staff, some of the tougher guidelines apply only to staff in news-related jobs. However, the Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker – who regularly debates Brexit and the state of the current government on Twitter – is likely to face some of the new restrictions as part of a new category of high-profile presenters with “additional responsibility to the BBC because of their profile on the BBC”. Neil Henderson, the BBC newsdesk editor who tweets newspaper front pages under the hashtag #TomorrowsPapersToday, said he would be “proud to be sacked for any opposition I may express to racism and hate”. The corporation said: “We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters.” In addition, the BBC announced that all journalists and news presenters would be required to seek written permission before taking on any new public speaking or external writing commitment. The BBC will publish a quarterly list of all the external commitments of on-air presenters and senior management. This list will show whether a fee was above or below £5,000, providing the public with an insight into how presenters earn extra money, and giving them an incentive to avoid taking potentially embarrassing jobs. Some leading on-air stars earn substantial sums from corporate events and awards shows, and many privately say it compensates for the relatively low salaries they receive by working for the public broadcaster rather than its commercial rivals. This has caused problems for the corporation, with recent negative coverage of the BBC’s North America editor, Jon Sopel, giving a paid speech to the tobacco company Philip Morris International; the BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty working for Aston Martin during the lockdown; and Kamal Ahmed, the BBC News editorial director, earning £12,000 for a speech to an investment company. Although the pay declaration policy will apply to individuals involved in the BBC’s sports news output, it will not apply to its sports presenters – meaning the value of Lineker’s endorsement deals will not be made public. BBC stars who pushed social media guidelines to the limit Gary Lineker The Match of the Day host, who recently signed a new deal to stay with the BBC for five years on a reduced salary of £1.3m a year, has long attracted the ire of rightwing tabloids and Conservative politicians for his social media output. His Twitter account has featured his concerns about Brexit, his experience of hosting a refugee at his home, and his criticisms of the current government. Although not covered by all the tough rules aimed at BBC reporters, presenters will be in a special category of high-profile BBC stars expected to “avoid taking sides on party political issues”. Ben Thompson Many staff at the BBC were furious last March when Question Time allowed a debate on whether it was morally right that five-year-old children learn about “LGBTQ+ issues” in school. The BBC Breakfast journalist Ben Thompson was among the employees who publicly criticised the programme, tweeting: “Would you ask if it’s ‘morally right’ to learn about gender/race/religion/disability ‘issues’?” This led to pushback from the head of news, Fran Unsworth, who told staff they had to leave such political views at the door and not advocate on public policy. Laura Kuenssberg The BBC’s political editor was an early adopter of Twitter in the 2000s and is well known for her use of the platform. She faced criticism during the 2019 general election after being one of several prominent journalists who tweeted a false claim from the Conservatives that a Tory aide had been punched at a protest in Leeds. She swiftly apologised, but she could be caught out by a new guideline requiring news to be broken on official BBC channels rather than on personal Twitter accounts.