The Charity Commission has taken regulatory action against UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers as part of an ongoing compliance case.
The charity was registered in 2000, with objects to support serving and discharged Israeli soldiers through advancing of education and providing leisure facilities.
A video was posted on the charity’s website and YouTube channel which contained a distressing scene, appearing to show an individual being killed. A review conducted by the Commission concluded that the video did not, in fact, depict a killing, but it was nonetheless found to be distressing in nature.
The regulator has found the trustees breached their legal duties and are responsible for misconduct and / or mismanagement over failing to have any policies or procedures in place around the charity’s website and social media platforms. They had outsourced all control of their website to a third party – a former executive director of the charity.
In allowing content to be posted without proper review or due diligence, the trustees failed to act in the charity’s best interests, or manage its resources responsibly.
The regulator has also issued the charity with an Official Warning in relation to these breaches.
The Commission initially opened a case into the charity following concerns raised that the charity was fundraising for military support for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), which would have been unlawful and outside of the charity’s objects. The Commission carried out a monitoring inspection of the charity and no evidence was found that the charity’s funds have been misapplied outside of its stated objects. However, during this engagement, the Commission became aware of the video.
The Official Warning sets out that the charity is to conduct a complete review of its other content to ensure it is appropriate and make sure that all future publications on the charity’s website and social platforms are in furtherance of its objects.
The charity’s trustees are expected to familiarise themselves with the Commission’s guidance on social media, and provide evidence of this to the regulator. The charity must also implement an adequate social media policy, informed by this guidance and submit this to the Commission for review.
The Charity Commission’s case involving the charity will remain ongoing allowing the regulator to follow up on the remedial actions set out in the Official Warning.
Joshua Farbridge, Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections at the Charity Commission said:
While the Commission accepts that trustees may delegate certain activities, they remain responsible for their charity – and we’d expect a level of oversight that enables them to fulfil their statutory duty to ensure all activities are in line with their charity’s purposes.
This case demonstrates the importance in having robust social media policies and carrying out sufficient due diligence. Such safeguards could have prevented the sharing of distressing and inappropriate content.
Ends
Notes to editors:
- The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society.
- The Official Warning was issued as part of a regulatory compliance case into the charity [UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers], which remains ongoing. These cases allow us to gather evidence and make findings, and to help trustees address any failures or weaknesses that we might identify.
- The law is clear that a charity in the UK cannot provide aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force in furtherance of a charitable purpose. Where this activity is found, we will act robustly. However, it is permissible in law for charities in the UK to raise funds to further a charitable purpose such as the relief of poverty, and can include current or former members of a foreign military as its beneficiaries. For example, charities set up to relieve ill health or disability may raise funds to support people injured in combat, or charities with educational purposes may raise funds to support the education of veterans. Charities can lawfully do this for people in the UK and overseas.
- Read the Charity Commission’s guidance for charities on using social media.
