'Facebook Five' demand right to write about work

A group of prison guards dubbed the "Facebook Five" has gone to an Australian court to fight for the right to complain about their boss on the Internet.

The case has raised questions about whether writing on social networking sites amounts to a chat between friends or a form of publishing.

New South Wales state prison authorities accused the five guards of misconduct and threatened to fire them last month over their disgruntled cyber exchanges about their superiors, including the man who runs the state's prisons, Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham.

Their union, the Public Service Association, has gone to the state Industrial Relations Commission to save their jobs.

The union also wants the court to change the prison guards' employment agreement to protect them from disciplinary action "in respect of out-of-work conduct intended to be private," according to the documents.

A hearing on the case will continue on Tuesday.

Union official Stewart Little said the prison guards were letting off steam in their own time and within a private Facebook group that was closed to outsiders over plans by management to privatise a Sydney prison operated by the state government. It is unclear how prison authorities gained access.

The guards claim in their submission to the court that a senior official wrote to them saying he was considering disciplinary action against them that could include dismissal. The said letter alleged they had made "unauthorised public comment" on their department's work and "comment to the media without permission".

They were also accused of making offensive comments about Mr Woodham and other senior officials.

The department declined to comment on the case.