A COUNCILLOR is asking town hall chiefs to produce a new code of conduct to stop the spread of 'fake news' on social media.

 

Cllr Carole Swarbrick says that local politicians' use of sites like Twitter and Facebook has got 'out of hand' and is now calling for Bolton Council to come up with a new set of rules to govern their social media output.

 

The former mayor was suspended from the Liberal Democrat group earlier this year, after an outburst at a town hall meeting in which she likened the tactics of 'aspiring Lib Dem spin doctors' to the serial killer Harold Shipman.

 

Cllr Swarbrick, whose request for a code of practice will be discussed at next Wednesday's council meeting, said: "Social media has great advantages but there is a big downside to it.

 

"People read stories put out by our politicians and they need to know that some of them are incorrect — they are fake news.

 

"There is a lot of information put out there and a lot of it is misinformation.

 

"We need a charter that we subscribe to and refer to, so that the people of Bolton can know that we are doing everything we can to put things out that they can believe in.

 

"I think we have to show leadership here and, as elected politicians, encourage others in our parties to use social media in a responsible manner."

 

In a motion submitted for next week's meeting, Cllr Swarbrick said that social media is 'overwhelmingly a force for good but can be used inappropriately'.

 

The Smithills councillor added: "I think the situation here has got out of hand. It is no longer about telling the electorate and the residents of Bolton what we stand for and what we hope to achieve.

 

"Now it is about personal attacks on other politicians and damning other parties. I'm not naive and I know that is politics, but I don't think it should be like that.

 

"The people of Bolton deserve better and they need to have faith in their politicians — this is why politics is in a mess.

 

"I have spoken to loads of people who say they just don't read what parties put on Facebook or Twitter because they don't believe it.

 

"But there are people who will soak up this misinformation and that shouldn't happen."

 

Last month, The Bolton News joined newspapers across the UK in a Fighting Fake News campaign to highlight the important role of the local press as a trusted source of news.

 

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, said: "I would welcome the idea of a code of conduct — it would mean that we know what is said on social media is correct.

 

"There is a lot of fake news around at the moment and I think this idea would help us all."

 

Cllr David Greenhalgh, Bolton Tory leader, said: "We fully support Cllr Swarbrick's proposals for a code of conduct, and we would actually hope it would go a step further, that councillors should also have a degree of accountability for the social media pages and websites run by their parties, not just for their own individual comments.

 

"The spreading of 'fake news' and misinformation or 'half-stories' should not be tolerated, they damage reputations unfairly, with often their distributors not allowing or deleting comments that challenge.

 

"Social media is important in the engagement of politics, but, wherever possible, it must be managed and used responsibly."