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KPMG's offices in St Stephen's Green in Dublin. Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

KPMG asks staff to warn them of 'inappropriate coverage' of firm on net

An email has been sent to staff at the accountancy firm just weeks after a video of a young girl making repeated references to KPMG was taken down from YouTube.

ACCOUNTANCY FIRM KPMG has sent an email to staff warning them to be “vigilant around the pervasiveness of social media” and the risk that inappropriate use of it can have on an “individual’s personal and professional reputation”.

The email also asks staff to notify management of any “inappropriate coverage of KPMG” on the internet or other social networks.

The email, seen by the TheJournal.ie, was sent to staff in the company’s Irish office this week.

It comes just a few weeks after there was controversy surrounding the posting of a video on YouTube of a young girl who repeatedly referred to her father being a partner in KPMG.

The clip has since been removed from the video-sharing website.

The email, from a partner in the firm’s Irish office – which employs around 1,800 people in offices Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway – is a follow-up to a voice message to staff sent on 7 January.

It says: “We all need to be vigilant around the pervasiveness of social media today and the serious risk that inappropriate use of social media can pose to a business brand and/or the potential impact to an individual’s personal and professional reputation.

“This means that we need to  be more aware of the growing power and popularity of social media and the potential impact on ourselves and others.”

Appropriate Use Policy

It goes on to say that in order for the firm to “promptly and appropriately” deal with situations where its name or brand is “treated inappropriately” staff are asked to notify management if they become aware of “inappropriate coverage of KPMG” on the internet or other social networks.

It also reminds staff of the company’s IT Appropriate Use Policy and in particular a section on the use of social media. The email quotes the section of the document which says:

Any information that may cause damage to KPMG’s reputation or may be considered confidential or commercially sensitive, including information (commercial or personal) about clients, colleagues, contractors and other third parties associated with KPMG, must not be posted to an online/internet network under any circumstances.

The policy document, also seen by TheJournal.ie, warns employees that they must not do anything to compromise the KPMG brand or reputation, or its relationship with clients, or embarrass KPMG or its clients.

It also warns personnel against accessing pornographic or gambling websites or sites containing details of or encouraging illegal activities.

The document also contains an image classification table which details content which is deemed inappropriate, highly inappropriate, and illegal ranging from images displaying partial nudity to full nudity to sexual intercourse.

Several messages, asking for comment on the email to staff, were not returned by KPMG at the time of publication.

Read: 7 essential rules of social media etiquette

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58 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Business Cat
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    Feb 7th 2016, 3:38 PM

    Where would the hacks be if there was no twitter?

    125
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Feb 7th 2016, 9:19 PM

    I live facing the bridge, lots of helicopters etc al recording it and huge area shit down, blast lasted a second as they where stunt flames, people just being dramatic as usual

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    Mute colin
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    Feb 7th 2016, 3:57 PM

    Fuking stop with this clickbait shite

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    Mute Paul Radburn
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    Feb 7th 2016, 3:54 PM

    Another attention seeking headline

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    Mute An Observer
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    Feb 7th 2016, 3:57 PM

    Paul, could you not have realised that it was a movie stunt from the * in the headline? Seriously,I mean it was practically spoon-fed to us….

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    Mute Paul Radburn
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    Feb 7th 2016, 6:10 PM

    Oh, ok, the Brazil team were all, killed in a plane crash*

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    Mute Paul Radburn
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    Feb 7th 2016, 6:10 PM

    * means it’s not true

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    Mute Seán J. Troy
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    Feb 7th 2016, 5:03 PM

    “The Foreigner” An action packed film starring Nigel Farage blowing up buses full of Syrian refugees.

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    Mute Niall
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    Feb 7th 2016, 6:27 PM

    Sap!

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    Mute Johnneary
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    Feb 7th 2016, 11:27 PM

    The victims and the victims families of the 7/7 bombing must be disgusted with this stunt.
    Quite a sick stunt to terrorise the men, women, children and oaps of London
    and try to accustom them to being under attack by the terrorists that their (bought and paid for) government radicalise and invite in from behind the safety of the bulletproof glass installed in their ivory towers.
    Sad
    So Sad.

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    Mute Johnneary
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    Feb 8th 2016, 12:46 AM

    Video games have taken to the streets.
    Soon no one will know (or care about) the difference between a real terrorist attack and a fake one.
    How desensitised people have become.

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    Mute Thomas O' Donnell
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    Feb 7th 2016, 9:18 PM

    This whole thing has been blown out of all proportion!

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    Mute Harry Whitehead
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    Feb 7th 2016, 10:18 PM

    The outrage bus has exploded.

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    Feb 8th 2016, 9:09 AM

    I am surprised that they had to use the real Lambeth Bridge in this day and age.
    Surely this could have been done in a film studio with the assistance of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery).
    That bus exploding would certainly have looked like a real terrorist attack to a casual unsuspecting observer.

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    Feb 8th 2016, 9:13 AM

    P.S.
    Are the film company going to compensate the disrupted commuters?
    Pigs might fly.

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    Mute Jacqueline McMahon
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    Feb 8th 2016, 2:36 PM

    God some people just look for a way to be offended!!

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