Social media opportunities are there for the taking, but how do you avoid falling foul of the law? Des Burley, partner and IP lawyer at law firm SGH Martineau LLP, highlights four key issues
Social media is moving fast, and so is the uptake in its use as a business development tool; recent reports suggest more than 41 per cent of UK businesses are using it, and almost 70 per cent of UK businesses plan to hire social media managers this year. While it can be a proven and valid tool for promoting your company, doing business and making new connections, there are legal implications you need to be aware of before you jump in.
The responsibility of a business’ social media strategy generally lands with the marketing and communications department. Therefore it is vital that each member within the relevant departments understand social media best practice at the very least, and that you enforce a policy on social media use among the wider business.
Social media, when used well, has the ability to help promote your business to local, national, or even global success. Equally, however, if you are not sure what you are doing, or you don’t take heed of the legalities that affect certain areas of social media, any mistakes can have a detrimental effect.
1. Defamation
Defamation is possibly one of the easiest issues to highlight, and one of the easiest to fall victim to. For example, should a sarcastic tweet be misread by the recipient or any observers, the author could easily fall prey to defamation allegations, whether accurate or not. Thinking before you tweet is therefore paramount. Ask yourself, ‘Could an alternative meaning be applied to this message?’
If your organisation has an interactive forum on its website – offering the facility for users to blog, upload material or post comments – you must ensure you have the right contractual protection in place. This would include a proper set of website terms of use and a good acceptable use policy. This policy sets the bar for the content standard of posted material, laying down what is and is not acceptable. It should also include a swift take-down policy to deal with complaints around allegedly defamatory comments or other inappropriate comments.
2. Trademark infringement
A big issue for brands is people copying their trademarks. Much sensitivity is needed when using your own brand or logo and incidental use of someone else’s where it is not justifiable. Use of images, video and text in social media without the correct permissions may lead to infringement of copyright. If you are unsure of anything you plan to post or upload via social media, it is advisable to seek written consent before doing so – it is always better to be safe than sorry.
3. Data protection
Another area that can be particularly poignant for marketers is data protection. It’s absolutely vital you remember that while social media can appear to be a personal thing it is always going to be to a public audience. Even when sending a direct message over Twitter, a private message over Facebook or sharing confidential information via a ‘private’ circle on Google Plus, the fact is the information is still out there in the public domain somewhere. Remember, social media has the power to spread news and information much quicker than any traditional media could hope to do, so posting confidential information anywhere in social media is simply not worth the risk.
You should also check whether it is acceptable for you to publish any statistics and data related to your business before doing so. While they may not seem precious to you, it may be information that a competitor or publication could use against you, or they may contradict ‘official’ figures reported earlier.
4. Social media policy
The general message is to be sensible when using social media. Know what you want to gain from it, how to go about it and perhaps most importantly from a brand or company perspective, don’t publish or post anything that you wouldn’t publish in print. There is no such thing as anonymous with social media; if someone wants to find out who you are and where you’re from, they will.
If your company does not have a social media policy in place, it may be worth considering making this a priority. It may also be worth putting this policy in employee contracts so that if any colleagues use their own personal accounts to post anything potentially damaging to the business, action can be taken. I don’t suggest banning the use of social media, but rather creating a best practice guide, including advising against talk of the company within personal accounts and getting into any sort of argument about the company, as well as general ‘netiquette’ when online.
Don’t regard social media as a minefield, but do tread with caution and think before you post. If you are unsure, seek advice. Use your company lawyer as an enabler rather than someone to go to when mistakes have already been made either by you or another party.
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