Private Social Media Use

We actively encourage all our employees to take part in our social media activities. That is why social media are accessible from most internal devices. However, there are a number of ground rules for all Bayer employees, so your private social media activities do not accidentally reflect badly on Bayer. For example, make sure to comply with laws and regulations and get support when you are confronted with negative comments regarding Bayer.

The Use of Social Media as Bayer Employee

All our employees are free to use social media in any way they choose. All we ask is that you clearly identify yourself as an employee of Bayer in your profile if you

wish to publicly partake in discussions about Bayer or Bayer-related topics,
connect with clients or
post about work.

By contrast, if you only use social media privately and do not comment on any Bayer or industry-related events it is up to you to identify yourself as an employee or not.

In either case please bear the following guidelines in mind to avoid any potential harm to either you or Bayer through social media activities.

The Social Media Pocket Guide: What All Employees Need to Know

	Get Actively Involved All Bayer employees are invited to participate in the company’s social media activities. Become a fan, share and like the company’s posts. When you make any comments or posts about Bayer and its activities, you should always make it clear that it’s your opinion. Always use “I” and not “we.” Please always use your private email address when setting up a profile on social media. We would more than welcome it if you want to publish your own article about your work at Bayer. Please ask your supervisor and the local communications team for support and approval.
	Communicate like in Real Life Don’t behave any differently on social media than you would otherwise as a Bayer employee. Freedom of speech and opinion also applies on social networks and Bayer welcomes the free exchange of views on digital media. However, you should always act responsibly and treat other people politely and respectfully. Your online communications needs to take different legal aspects into consideration, for example, you may not post or publish any slanderous, libelous, abusive or otherwise illegal content. The relevant local law and the platform policies shall always prevail.
	Observe All Laws and Regulations Standard legal requirements also apply to social media. You should ensure that you don’t share any illegal content or links and that you don’t infringe intellectual property rights relating to photos and videos. Please always take account of all relevant local legislation and observe the terms and conditions of the respective platforms. Confidential information (ongoing research projects, company strategies, information relevant to acquisitions, documents labeled secret, restricted or internal, etc.) must not be posted on social media! Please note: Do not infringe the privacy of other employees, customers or business partners by mentioning them in posts without obtaining their consent beforehand. This is not about personal sensitivities but about rights of every person governed by data protection laws. Most of our products are subject to a certain degree of government oversight and legal requirements. There may be regulations restricting what can be said about our products, their properties, effectiveness and active ingredients. Leave conversations and unilateral evalutations about these things to the experts at Bayer who have been trained in legal matters and compliance. Additional special regulations apply for the employees of Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Animal Health. You will find detailed information here.
	Ask for Support in Dealing with Critical Comments If you participate in a public discussion in a digital medium, you may experience criticism of your posts. Such criticism may also be off topic. In other words, you might post something about digital farming and comments revolve around a planned acquisition. Discussions like this on social media tend to develop a life of their own and are difficult to control. Please act according to the following information: You should respond differently to various types of criticism. We advise restraint in the case of a purely emotional provocation aimed at drawing an angry response and/or consult your local communications department. You should notify the platform about any comments that violate the channel's policies. You should not answer serious but critical comments about the company yourself. Please refer the contributor to Bayer’s local or global social media channels. Genuine critical responses or inquiries are best dealt with by referring the inquirer to the local or global Bayer social media channels rather than answering them yourself. Read more about crisis communication and adverse event reporting here. If you have any questions or are unsure about how to behave on social media in your capacity as a Bayer employee, please contact social.media@bayer.com
	Use Your Time Wisely Make rational use of your working day. Bayer allows the private use of social media on company devices during working hours, provided this use is sparing and not detrimental to your work. You should consult your supervisor before using social media in a professional capacity.

Protecting Your Privacy

It’s possible that one or more Bayer accounts (e.g. on Twitter) may follow you and share your posts. You can block these accounts if you don’t want this to happen. Find all information on data privacy in social media in the respective chapter.

You should be aware that any information you share publicly will be accessible to the wider public. Once published, it becomes nearly impossible to control the spread of any information or to delete it.

If you use the word “Bayer” in a post or discuss Bayer-related issues, this will be picked up by our monitoring activities. You should always observe the terms and conditions of the networks you are posting in.

This data is used solely in the analysis of Bayer’s reputation in social networks.

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Your Social Media Channel
We invite you to include industry and corporate topics in your own private social media feeds. You may also name Bayer as your employer, but please ensure it is clear your posts and channel do not represent official Bayer communications. One good example of this is the Twitter channel run by Sami Joost, who is part of the Digital Communications team in Leverkusen.

Tweet by Monika Lessl announcing Bayer's donation of FFP2 masks to the Red Cross for Beirut and additional funding for education and hygiene distribution.

Insights into the industry
Sami provides an overview of issues covered by the Bayer world and gives insights into cross-industry events. Like him you are welcome to comment on, like or share Bayer posts and talk about events that are of interest to you and your followers.

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