Michael Byrnes dis­cuss­es whether an employ­er can sack you over what you say anony­mous­ly on social media

A High Court case will decide whether an employ­er can sack you over what you say anony­mous­ly on social media.

Pub­lic ser­vant Michaela Baner­ji had worked for the Depart­ment of Immi­gra­tion and Bor­der Pro­tec­tion for sev­en years when she was fired in 2013. Her employ­er dis­cov­ered she was behind an anony­mous Twit­ter account that had been high­ly crit­i­cal of the gov­ern­ment. Ms Baner­ji appealed her sack­ing to the Admin­is­tra­tive Appeals Tri­bunal, who found she was unlaw­ful­ly fired and ordered her com­pen­sa­tion. But the Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment is appeal­ing the deci­sion in the High Court.

Michael Byrnes says the case will deter­mine to what extent an employ­er can con­trol what you say on social media. ​“There are both pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tor employ­ees who argue… that social media poli­cies and guide­lines are an incur­sion into their free­dom of speech.”

Lis­ten to the seg­ment here.