Digital creators working for nothing to promote an NHS mental health campaign have been “gagged” from criticising ministers.
Official communication, seen by The Independent, shows that they have been specifically told not to say anything negative about the government, despite widespread concern over waiting lists.
Mental health charity Sane warned last year that so-called “hidden waits” were “giving the lie to” official statistics on the length of time it takes before patients receive treatment.
Ministers are concerned that the coronavirus pandemic, combined with the effect of lockdown, has detrimentally affected many people’s mental health.
A two-month campaign, Help Us Help You, aims to raise awareness of NHS talking therapies and highlight that services remain open despite the fight against Covid-19.
But critics hit out at what they said was an attempt to “gag” creators and said that private companies would be condemned for asking self-employed freelancers, a group which has suffered significantly during the pandemic, to work for free.
The documents show that influencers have been given detailed “instructions” on the campaign, including: “Don’t say anything negative about the government.”
A long list of demands also includes that they should post one of only three carefully staged photographs.
The first option is described as a picture of “a mindful pose, or touching your temples, to indicate ‘mind’”.
The second option is of “yourself depicting self-care”, and the third, “talking to a friend or loved one”.
They have also been told to “ensure that content has a genuine and authentic feel to it”, to “be careful to use appropriate language” and to direct their followers to the NHS talking therapies website.
The instructions add: “To accompany your in-feed post you must create 1 x Instagram story with Swipe Up which will encourage your followers to look at your Instagram post.”
Instagrammers have been told to submit their posts for approval before 12 January and to post them on Instagram before 17 January.
They have also been asked to submit “Instagram insights”, or data on their reach.
The Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, Munira Wilson, said the ban on criticism of the government showed that ministers had their “heads in the sand”.
“Of course, it is important to reach out to as many people as possible when encouraging individuals to seek support for their mental health, but whilst the waiting times for talking therapies remain ridiculously long, these adverts will fail to have any real impact.
“Equally, trying to gag those who may want to help just further reveals how ministers are putting their heads in the sand.”
A spokeperson for The Creator Union, which represents digital creatives, said: “We are discouraged by seeing yet another request for creators to work for free.
“Influencers and creators are small businesses too, and as such, deserve to be paid for their time and skill.
“Given how little support there has been for freelance and self-employed people during this pandemic, it feels a little off to yet again be asking creators to work for free.”
The spokesperson added: “How much control they want to have over the imagery, and what words are used, also raises a flag.”
Kavita Favelle, a food and travel blogger who writes at kaveyeats.com, said: “The government isn’t a commercial brand and shouldn’t be seeking placement of marketing content in this manner.”
Asked about the instruction not to criticise the government, a spokesperson for NHS England said the health service was “grateful for the huge support the public have shown, including from public-spirited people who generously help with public health information”.
