Investigation reveals no abuse on Facebook Live despite council concerns

Melksham Town Council’s decision to end Facebook Live broadcasts of meetings has come under scrutiny after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed there have been no recorded incidents of abuse linked to the streaming platform.

The council voted in June to stop streaming meetings on Facebook, citing concerns about technical reliability as well as safety, claiming the platform exposed councillors and officers to “real-time targeting”. However, the FOI response obtained by the Melksham News shows the council has no record of such incidents, raising questions about the evidence behind the move.

At the meeting in June, Cllr Jennie Westbrook put forward a motion to stop the live streaming of public town council meetings via Facebook Live and instead continue streaming over Microsoft Teams, with recordings later uploaded to YouTube.

Cllr Westbrook said some councillors had taken time off work due to mental health issues related to abuse received on Facebook, and that others had changed their home security as a result. She argued that live public streaming on an open platform increases the exposure of councillors and officers to online abuse.

However, Cllr Phil Alford warned that the move would “deliberately reduce the transparency of this organisation.”

“I think the transparency we get from using Facebook has been well established,” he said. “To change the platform now, particularly to one which is less well used, is going to result in a reduction in transparency. Many residents do follow our videos and council meetings on Facebook.”

Former mayor Tom Price, who served on the council for four years, questioned the justification for the decision. He told councillors that while he had received abuse on social media, including Facebook, none of it stemmed from live streaming.

“Where is the evidence that Facebook Live exposes councillors to antisocial behaviour?” he asked.

Although the council confirmed there had been informal reports by councillors of inappropriate and abusive comments on Facebook, a Melksham News investigation can reveal there have been no logged incidents of councillors or staff being abused as a result of meetings being streamed via Facebook Live.

In the FOI response, Melksham Town Council confirmed, “Melksham Town Council does not have a record of any instances of abuse occurring during or as a direct result of Facebook Live streams. No records exist to indicate that any incidents of abuse have occurred directly through Facebook Live.”

Operation Bridger

The motion also claimed that police and national governance bodies had ‘provided clear guidance’ discouraging councils from live streaming on open platforms like Facebook.

During the meeting on 30th June, Cllr Westbrook said she had sought advice from the police’s Operation Bridger programme, which provides security advice and support to government representatives in the United Kingdom. She said that ‘every single one of them’ had said ‘do not stream on live meetings’

However, a spokesperson for Wiltshire Police confirmed this is not advice their Operation Bridger representative is aware of. A police spokesperson said, “I’ve looked into this with the relevant officer and this guidance is nothing that he has heard of or been told about.”

Councillors also heard that guidance was sought from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) over the policy of live streaming. NALC confirmed to Melksham News that it does not issue guidance advising councils to avoid specific platforms.

A spokesperson for the NALC said, “NALC does not explicitly advise parish or town councils to use any specific platform. NALC only makes parish and town councils aware of the legislation.”