B r o a d c a s t M e s s a g e

B r o a d c a s t M e s s a g e

NOTICE: 3 FAM 4170

All [State Department] ECA [see] and IIP [see] employees are reminded to comply with 3 FAM 4170, “Official Clearance of Speaking, Writing, and Teaching”: “An employee who has prepared public speaking, writing, or teaching materials in his or her private capacity must submit them for review by the employee’s agency, if such materials are on matters of “official concern.” Employees are reminded that communications in a private capacity over the Internet that are publicly available (e.g. blogs, bulletin boards) and are on matters of official concern come within this requirement. Materials are on matters of official concern if they relate to any policy, program, or operation of the employee’s agency or to current U.S. foreign policies, or reasonably may be expected to affect the foreign relations of the United States.”

3 FAM 4170 is applicable to all Foreign Service(FS) employees, Civil Service(CS) employees, overseas employees, and personal service contractors (PSC’s) of the Department. All materials on matters of “official concern” must be submitted to the Bureau of Public Affairs for review before publication or use. The purpose of such review is to ensure that classified material and other material protected by law are not improperly disclosed, and that the views of employees are not improperly attributed to the U.S. Government.

Please review 3 FAM 4170 for additional guidance. If you have any questions, you can also contact the ECA-IIP/EX Office at 202-632-6378.