Social media usage has increased exponentially, making a social media account an excellent way for your charity or not-for-profit (NFP) to reach a larger audience and get your message out there. However, as an organisation, using social media lawfully and adequately is important. You need to make sure you manage your social media presence well. This article provides an overview of some of the legal issues for charities and NFPs using social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Delegation
First, as an organisation, you will have people responsible for conducting different activities. Therefore, from a risk management perspective, it is important to identify who will be responsible for managing your social media accounts, including:
- who will be the person in charge of the social media marketing;
- whether an employee will be managing the accounts as part of their role;
- will you be providing this employee/team with adequate social media training; and
- who will make the final call on decisions concerning the accounts.
Issues to Consider When Signing Up to Social Media Platforms
Once you know who manages the account, you need to think about some preliminary issues before signing up. Often, the terms and conditions you sign up to for these accounts cannot be negotiated. However, you still need to be familiar with your obligations and potential liabilities under them. In particular, you should pay attention to:
- prohibited conduct under the social media terms and conditions;
- whether you can block the use of profanities on your page; and
- what you can customise in your privacy settings.
Copyright
Charities and NFPs using social media may want to use creative media from other people, including inspirational quotes, photographs, videos or artworks. If you will use creative works, you must comply with copyright law. Broadly, you need to make sure that if you are using someone else’s creative work, that:
- you have contacted the creator and asked them for permission to use the work in the manner that you intend; and
- you acknowledge the copyright owner of the work through tagging the user.
Privacy
Generally, Australian Privacy Principles (APP) apply to charities and NFPs, which may be considered ‘APP entities’. An APP entity has to comply with the APPs under the Privacy Act 1998. Generally, to comply with the APPs, you may have to draft a privacy policy for your charity. This privacy policy details how you treat any ‘sensitive’ or ‘personal’ information you use, collect or store through your social media account or social media activities.
Defamation
If you publish information about any third party on your social media account, you need to be aware of defamation laws. Defamation applies when something you publish about a person causes other reasonable members of society to think less of that person.
Furthermore, if you publish information about another business, your organisation may need to be aware of the tort of injurious falsehood. Injurious falsehood occurs if you or your business say something that causes actual damage to another business’ reputation or commercial success. When posting on social media, ensure you are cautious about the content being shared and its accuracy. Further, there can be legal risks of defamatory comments posted as comments by third parties, so you need to monitor the usage of the site closely.
Fundraising
As a charity or NFP, it can be easy to promote donation links. When encouraging consumers to donate to your charity or NFP on social media, it is important to ensure you follow requirements under charitable laws. You will need to ensure you are promoting accuracy and transparency when utilising fundraising on social media.
Promotion Guidelines
It is crucial that if you promote contests and promotions through social media for your charity or NFP, you adhere to the terms and conditions of the platform. It is important to look for specific sections relating to promotions and contests. Awareness of these conditions and community guidelines will help avoid misleading users and maintain transparency. Ensuring your content team reviews, monitors and provides clear rules and guidelines for the contest or promotion on social media is the best practice.
Writing a Social Media Policy
Finally, charities and NFPs using social media should develop a policy for staff using those accounts. The policy may cover issues like:
- when statements may be considered defamatory;
- acceptable activity on your organisation’s accounts;
- guidelines for drafting posts on behalf of your organisation;
- how to deal with trolls;
- guidelines for contacting other social media users;
- authorised and unauthorised behaviour by other users on your account; and
- guidelines for using other people’s material, including contacting authors for permission to use copyrighted material.
You may also consider drafting a social media policy for followers or people who engage with your accounts online. In particular, a social media policy is helpful in setting out the kind of conduct or statements that are prohibited on your platforms and your rights to edit or delete commentary that breaches the policy.
This legal health checklist will help you to identify areas in your NFP that may need further protection or assistance to ensure that you are legally compliant.
Key Takeaways
Charities and NFPs using social media are using an effective tool to increase your organisation’s audience. However, there are several legal issues of which you should be aware before you jump online. Ultimately, you should:
- put a committee or staff member in charge of your social media accounts;
- carefully check the terms and conditions of the social media platform and have appropriate security settings;
- comply with the APPs;
- be aware of the rules and guidelines for fundraising and promotions guidelines;
- draft and implement a social media policy;
- get permission to use copyrighted material; and
- be aware of defamation laws when publishing material about third parties.
If you would like guidance on how your charity or not-for-profit can use social media without running into legal problems, contact our experienced charity lawyers as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
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