Social media channels
The information below sets out how we run our social media channels, so you know what to expect when you read or comment on our channels, or want to contact us.
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Our main UK social media channels are monitored Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays. We receive a high volume of enquiries and aim to respond within two working days but it may take us longer to get back to you during busy periods.We do not respond to social media enquiries over the weekend. Under certain circumstances we operate a limited weekend service during busy periods, for instance, during campaigns World Autism Acceptance Week or when we have active media requests.
If we're not able to answer your enquiry ourselves we will refer you to a different service, team or organisation.
In some cases, it may be quicker to find the information you need on our website. Find out more in our Contact us section.
If you need urgent support, please call the Samaritans' free 24-hour helpline service on 116 123 or visit the Samaritans website for alternative ways of getting in touch.
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We make sure that all social media content shared on our channels reflects and supports our charity’s mission, vision and values. We are politically neutral and do not hold or promote views on party politics or have any affiliation with or links to political parties.
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We want all of our supporters to engage with the content we share on our channels in a safe manner. For us to do this, we moderate posts and, on certain and rare occasions, ‘hide’, remove and/or report inappropriate content posted by other users, in line with our social media policy.Inappropriate content could include, but is not limited to:
- abusive messages
- offensive language, including swearing, personal jibes, insults, and so on
- spam/commercial posts
- harassment
- hate speech
- comments which are off-topic.
While we actively encourage conversation and appreciate that there will be differences of opinion about some of the topics we highlight on our channels, we will not tolerate any of the above.
We reserve the right to ban or block users from any social media page if they are posting inappropriate content.
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We often receive requests for us to share content on our channels. While we understand how our reach could help amplify the impact of your content, it would simply not be possible for us to fulfil all these requests and unfair to share some and not others.We will occasionally share content from other charities, organisations, news organisations or campaigners we have a relationship and work closely with. Our charity has guidance on how to talk and write about autism based on our language research on the preferences of autistic people, their families and professionals, as well as the feedback and insight we get from our supporters and wider work.
We encourage anyone who is referring to a particular person or group to ask them how they would prefer to be described. Social media posts we may share or repost which do not meet the language recommendations set out in our guide do not necessarily reflect our charity’s views, values or organisational objectives.
It may also be that your content is relevant for another part of the charity.
- If you have a campaign you would like to tell us about, please email campaign@nas.org.uk
- If you have a government petition you would like to tell us about, please email policy@nas.org.uk
- If you are undertaking research, please email research@nas.org.uk
- If you have a fundraising question, please email fundraising@nas.org.uk
- If you have a media enquiry, please email press@nas.org.uk
- If you have a question for our Social Media team, please email socialmedia@nas.org.uk
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Some National Autistic Society staff and volunteers tweet or post content under their own names. Although they are a charity employee or volunteer, their posts do not necessarily reflect the position of the charity and should be viewed as their own content.
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We are committed to listening to what you have to say about us. Your feedback and complaints provide us with an opportunity to improve all we do. If you want to send us general feedback, comments or compliments, please visit our Tell us what you thnk page.
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We have a small media team to help journalists and producers working on stories about autism. Find out more and how to get in contact on our Media enquiries page.
Last updated: October 2023