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Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is encouraging Canadian diplomats to experiment with social media to promote democratic freedom and trade across the globe.

The plan could represent a loosening of the communications leash the Harper government has placed on foreign diplomats as part of its centralized communications strategy.

Baird announced the initiative Friday in northern California as he visited the Silicon Valley headquarters of Internet search giant Google and of Twitter, where he is seeking advice on how to better use social media tools to advance Canadian foreign policy.

Diplomacy may never live up to the Silicon Valley mantra of move fast and break things, for various reasons. But in the environment of instant communication and social media, we do have to move faster and not be afraid to try new things or to make mistakes, Baird said.

Baird encouraged diplomats to take risks on social media to reach civic actors who can bring about political change in their countries.

It basically is a message to all of our diplomats, a word of encouragement to be innovative, even if it means there are risks, said a senior government official who was not authorized to speak on the record.

After coming to power in 2006, the Conservative government imposed strict communication controls on its diplomats, including ambassadors and high commissioners, requiring them to clear major public events through the Privy Council Office in Ottawa.

The Canadian Press reported this week that bureaucrats at Industry Canada must run each proposed tweet through a 12-step protocol, and seek the approval of the ministers office.

However, the senior government official said diplomats abroad would have more local control, saying, each mission is ultimately responsible for their own Twitter/Facebook and other social media tools.

Canada has lagged far behind its two closest allies, the United States and Britain, in digital diplomacy so Fridays announcement was a welcome development, said Roland Paris, director of the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa.

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Canadian diplomats should use social media more, foreign minister says