Karting Australia Issue Statement Regarding Social Media
| 2 March 2016 |
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One of karting's governing bodies, Karting Australia, has issued the below statement regarding the use of Social Media, defamation, harassment and bullying:
KA press release
STATEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
From the Board of Karting Australia and Member State Presidents
Of recent times a number of active participants in Karting Australia sanctioned events have engaged in activities that are very clear breaches of our sport’s Member Protection Policy including our Code of Conduct (and in some instances breaches of the law) that clearly bring our sport into disrepute.
They have used social media outlets including Facebook and Kartbook in the most unacceptable and irresponsible of manners to denigrate and defame members of the Karting Australia staff, Board, competitors (including junior competitors), suppliers and volunteer officials who give their service free of charge to our sport.
Not only have they made up and spread completely false and misleading information, some have fabricated and posted to these sites the most outrageous of lies.
Clearly their sole objective can only be to publicly denigrate and tarnish the reputations of good people. Foolishly, too many of our current karters, along with a large number of people who have absolutely no involvement whatsoever in our sport today have joined in this public and completely undeserving shaming of people by sharing and further commenting upon some of these posts.
Apart from causing harm and distress to the individuals concerned, this behaviour brings shame to karting, brings our sport into disrepute and is completely counterproductive to growing the sport of karting. Why would someone even contemplate joining our sport if they came across some of these outrageous posts (that pretend to be based in fact) on the internet?
Social media can be incredibly powerful when used properly and positively. If used as a legitimate promotional tool, it is cost effective and a great medium to drive participation in specific events and the sport generally. The Victorian Country Series promotion of their State Series and their recent first round event at Cobden is a great example of excellent promotion for the sport through social media.
Equally, it can be incredibly destructive and soul destroying when people decide to denigrate people and to make up and spread complete lies about people who are unable to defend themselves against, what at times has become a public lynch mob that just want to believe the worst about people and about the administration and administrators of our sport.
Recently Facebook has shut down two public groups that have been the single greatest initiators of numerous hateful and defamatory statements and posts that are predominately about members of Karting Australia’s staff, members of the Board and officials. Facebook do not take those decisions lightly. The person who set up these groups is not known to be a member of any Karting Australia affiliated club but for whatever reason he appears to have had repeated vendetta’s against most people in any position of authority within the former AKA Inc. and now Karting Australia. Many of the ‘followers’ of these groups and commenters and initiators of the posts to the group are members of affiliated Clubs.
Following is an extract from the Australian Karting Manual:
“Social Responsibility
KA is an equal opportunity organisation which values diversity. We are committed to the health, safety and general well-being of all our members and personnel. The organisation is dedicated to providing a safe environment free from bullying, harassment, discrimination and abuse for all of our members, Competitors, Officials, administrators, volunteers and supporters.
KA is committed to ensuring that everyone associated with Karting activities complies with our Policies, including but not limited to our Member Protection Policy and Code of Conduct. KA adopts, and requires our Officials and administrators to adopt, a ZERO TOLERANCE approach to bullying, harassment, discrimination and anti-social behaviour.”
The Karting Australia Board along with our affiliated State Associations believe that enough is enough.
Collectively we will look to protect the interests of our sport and all those who are part of our sport. Transgressors and in particular, repeated transgressors are on notice that their behaviour will not be tolerated. Ignorance of our policies is no excuse.
There are long standing processes within the Australian karting structure to enable anyone who is actually involved in our sport (be that at Club member, State member or Karting Australia affiliated member level) to raise legitimate issues that are of concern to them or that they think may help the sport to grow.
That process does not now, nor will it ever involve the denigration of individuals nor a public discussion on Facebook or any similar social media site. Collectively we take this sport much more seriously than that. A sarcastic or Facebook comment that generally denigrates a person or a concept is not a discussion in which this sport will engage.
If you wish to be taken seriously, then you need to act in a responsible manner. If you want your ideas to be taken seriously then bring them forward through the established process along with a potential solution that goes further than the hackneyed “because that’s how we’ve always done it” reason.
If your commentary on this sport amounts to little more than heckling from the side lines, bullying and criticising good people who have done no wrong or have simply volunteered their service so that you can race, then you need to rethink a great many things. Not the least of which is how you participate in our sport.
The hugely overwhelming majority of participants in this sport are great people who want to compete for the fun of it and for the sake of the sport. They are not interested in this sort of unacceptable and inappropriate material on social media. Nor do they want their sport dragged down and brought into disrepute by the actions of a few people who would do so, no matter who was in charge.
As the national and state bodies responsible for this sport, together we implore and encourage you as responsible members of the Australian karting fraternity, to call out bad behaviour whenever and wherever you see it and to not give oxygen to individuals and groups that would rather denigrate and harm individuals and our sport generally.
Discrimination, defamation, harassment and bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our sport.
All Clubs throughout Australia need to act decisively on these matters. To do otherwise jeopardises the character and social fabric of our sport.
The February 2016 edition of “Play by the Rules” magazine has a very timely article “Issues That Arise from the Use of Social Media”. It is well worth a read.
IMPORTANT LINKS TO KARTING AUSTRALIA POLICIES
Anti-discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Policy
Social Media Policy
Member Protection Policy
Ends.
2 March 2016
Issued on behalf of:
Karting Australia Board
M. Doohan, M. Holzberger, C. Denton, C. Styring, P. Smith, R. Crawford
State Presidents of:
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia