These guidelines apply to any and all Communist Party and Young Communist League accounts as well as members who publicly identify as party members online and or are public figures who represent the Party.

Social Media Guidelines

1. Accounts must be approved by your club and district and should be collectively run. No personal opinions or individual analysis. Never tweet/post in first person, we function as a collective. Each post represents the voice of the party, not you as an individual. If you want to express your personal opinion about something, it’s best to do so on your own personal social media. To be cleared as on official account, the club or district it represents must inform the social media collective.

2. Follow the party program and keep tweets and opinions within those lines. Read the party program before taking over or starting up a social media account. Before posting, maybe run it by a member of your club/district just to see if it’s in line with the party program. A good way to avoid posting things out of line with what the party stands for is to post our material (party website or PW articles) with quotes from the articles as the headline. Do not affiliate yourself or club/district with beliefs and ideologies that are incompatible with the Party and League. This includes social patriotism, trotskyism, maoism, anarchism, etc. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc are also completely incompatible in any form with our party and with our Marxist-Leninist ideology.

3. Keep a professional attitude when posting. Do not engage with online trolls. Keep responses limited, delete comments and block accounts if they cause problems. If you do feel the absolute need to react to a comment, consider sending the person who commented a private message. This will prevent any long, drawn-out conversation which often happens in the form of arguments.

4. No name-calling or insulting of comrades. This goes for party-run accounts and personal accounts. You joined the Communist Party which means you are a part of a collective. We are a united party despite our individual opinions which we welcome. However, we draw the line at bashing the party we all belong to or name-dropping comrades with whom we may disagree on certain topics. There are platforms for these discussions to be held, and it’s not on social media for the world to see. Harassment and abusive behavior towards non-party members is also not acceptable in the slightest.

5. Do not promote violence or incite violence. Our party members were falsely arrested, imprisoned, deported and executed in the 1950s for “conspiring to teach violence.” Not a good move, protect yourself and the party and do not post such things. It risks embarrassing and threatening the party’s security.

6. The internet is the battle for ideas and we want to display an image of ourselves that is modern, and relevant. Posting quotes and pictures of Stalin and Mao, do not benefit our party and appeal only to the already “left” and to online users. Do not post about controversial figures such as Stalin and Mao, this only creates division and does not help our image. Admins should strive to highlight our own great thinkers and leaders as well as international ones. When in doubt, consult the collective running your account.

7. Keep in mind the area you represent. Club and district accounts should post mostly about what’s happening in their areas. A good ratio should be 70% local happenings 20% wider national happening 10% international. Club and district accounts should be reaching the working class in the areas they are active in. Post about local work and news as much as possible.

8. We are part of the world communist movement and our special position as the Communist Party in the United States means a great deal. The US is the main imperialist power in the world and we do not want to be portrayed as chauvinistic. Do not involve yourself in the internal affairs of other Communist parties and progressive movements.

9. The national account, @communistsusa, is the representative of the Social Media Collective and of national leadership. The account and its admin(s) are to be respected as representatives of the national leadership. Likewise, any issues or concerns are to be sent to the account, not directly to our co-chairs.

Democratic Centralism

Democratic centralism starts with the connection of local Party organization with the working class in struggle. Once decisions have been made based on democratic discussion, the whole Party must strive to implement them. It means we strive for collective functioning, not just individual good work. It means encouraging and organizing the full democratic participation of all members, but with a prohibition against factional organizing. It means working to unite theory and practice, and to collectively advance the development of theory based on the continual examination of a constantly changing world. Unity—of purpose, of action, of vision—is important not just in a union, mass movement, or coalition; it is crucial for a Communist Party.

(From the CPUSA Program)

“Party members should keep in mind not to intervene in the affairs of other localities.”

Discipline Procedures

Official accounts and individuals who violate these guidelines will be subject to review.

The Social Media executive committee will make a recommendation to the club and district to pursue the appropriate actions as well as submitting an official recommendation if an official account is in question, it be transferred to another user.