Social Media Law

Social media is about connecting with people – people in your business communicating with the people your business depends on for its existence: your customers and prospects. Communication via social media networks happens at a fast pace, in real time and in a very public setting. It also leaves a permanent trace.

This throws up a lot of legal issues. Should this be an obstacle to implementing social media for your business? Absolutely not. But you need to be aware of the risks and manage those risks to your business’s reputation and your brand to an acceptable level. It isn’t all that difficult but you do need to take a bit of care in advance in order to avoid a lot of potential hassle and problems.

We’re familiar with the legal and business issues associated with successful implementation of social media. We use it in our business, so we walk the walk as well as talking the talk!

We’ve broken down the areas you need to consider in dealing with those issues as follows:

Employment law and human resource issues:

In order to implement social media in your business you are probably going to have to get the people who work for you involved (or else forget about that thing you call a life!). You are not going to be able to control everything your staff say and do and therefore they will be very public representatives of your name and your brand to a potentially worldwide audience. Two obvious issues arise here: everyone involved will need to understand the clear message that you are trying to communicate and there will need to be clear ground rules and boundaries for everyone in terms of what is acceptable.

The important thing is good communication so that your people understand what is expected of them; what they can and can’t do, and what the consequences will be. You need clear terms of employment combined with appropriate policies in this area. Not something bullet proof bristling with the type of terminology that a lawyer might dream up, but something effective and useful that is actually going to get read and be implemented.

Advertising and marketing:

You need to consider how to protect the integrity of your business’s image and goodwill while also promoting it via social media. To make sure that your employees understand what they can and can’t say about your products and services online good in-house training is important. Remember that the distinctions between work and social posting can get blurred. Make sure everyone understands where the boundaries are and what their responsibilities are regarding accurate statements, negatives statements regarding other products or services, codes of standards and acceptable content.

Third party agreements and intellectual property:

This is really an extension of every other aspect of your IT procurement. You need transparent and clearly understood frames of reference with your external consultants, designers, etc. When you build up a social network it will be based around the account you establish for your business and won’t be easy to move. Therefore you need to be clear on the terms and conditions on which that account is being provided. You also need to be sure that you control your own set-up so that you won’t feel held to ransom when someone who helped you set up the account or who you put in charge of the account moves on.

Regulatory compliance: Privacy issues, data protection issues, distance selling regulations and unfair contract terms all need to be borne in mind. None of it’s rocket science, but it can be easy to trip up on and it has the potential to do serious reputational harm to your business (and possibly leave you exposed to more serious sanctions) if you haven’t got it covered. You need to be clear on who you hold data on behalf of, where and how you store it, and where and when you transmit it.

Defamation:

Posting on social media is publication. Prior to this libel was really only of major concern to those in the traditional media business. You knew when you were in the public eye and could take extra care with what you did or said when you were. Now when people post on Facebook or Twitter they often do so in a very casual manner – that’s the nature of the medium. Damaging remarks that can have extremely serious costs for business owners can very easily be made unless there is a clear understanding of what is involved and what is at stake. You and your staff also need to understand when you can be liable for the remarks of third parties and for republishing (such as re-tweeting).

If you have any query in relation to this area and would like us to contact you in the strictest confidence, please select either the make an enquiry or request a callback buttons above or alternatively please contact Flor McCarthy directly on 023 8833348, e-mail him at flor@mccarthy.ie or follow him on Twitter: @flormccarthy or connect with him on LinkedIn

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