Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations situations where service members’ contact with family and friends are restricted, while in Malta, family and friends are warned that operational restrictions may mean that a member of the armed services is unreachable for longer than anticipated. Use of social media Social media use brings both risks and opportunities. The potential risks involve compromising operations by revealing information that is useful to an adversary. For instance, the Danish Army, citing that soldiers might be placed at risk through social media use, has developed a social media strategy for the armed forces.212 Most states responding to the ODIHR survey provide guidance to military personnel on their use of social media. The main variations relate to the status and scope of this guidance (see Box 6.3). Most states that regulate the use of social media by members of their armed forces do so through a combination of a Code of Conduct, specific guidance and disciplinary offences. Guidance commonly addresses the types of duty, locations and types of information or photographs to which restrictions on social media use apply. It is uncommon for bullying or harassment via social media (cyberbullying) to be specifically addressed, although several states reported that general offences prohibiting bullying would apply in such instances. Specific guidance for service personnel on cyberbullying does, however, exist in Cyprus and Switzerland. Box 6.3: Regulation of social media use in the armed forces of selected OSCE participating States213 Form of regulation No guidance Code of conduct Specific guidance Disciplinary Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia Albania, Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Switzerland, the United Kingdom Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Switzerland, the United Kingdom 214 Scope of guidance Types of duty Location Type of information/ photograph Bullying/ harassment the Federal Law ‘On the Status of Military Personnel’” (in Russian) - http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201903060013?index=0&rangeSize=1 212 Hellman et al., op. cit., note 175. 213 Responses to the ODIHR-DCAF 2018 questionnaire, qu. 15. 214 In Denmark, civil disciplinary offences apply. 101