As a business owner, you have likely leveraged social media for your commercial benefit. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, are an established part of business marketing and customer engagement. However, you must be aware of the potential legal consequences of misusing social media for your business. This article will explore the potential legal issues using social media raises as well as best practice guidelines.
Disclosure of Confidential Information
Cybersecurity issues can, unfortunately, result in the leaking of confidential information. Accordingly, you should continuously revisit the strength of your security through measures such as:
- updating software;
- implementing antivirus protection;
- utilising firewalls;
- using strong passwords; and
- backing up your data.
Furthermore, ensure that you check your privacy settings regularly, as the site can sometimes alter your privacy preferences. By implementing such policies, you minimise the likelihood of a data breach and leaking of sensitive information.
Intellectual Property (IP)
As a business, brand or individual, you must exercise caution when sharing any content on social media to ensure the content does not infringe any IP rights such as copyright or a trademark. Before sharing any content, verify that you have permission to reproduce, adapt, modify or re-post someone else’s content. As a general rule, you should avoid posting content you or your employees did not create yourselves unless you are familiar with the exceptions to copyright infringement and know your content satisfies an exception.
Continue reading this article below the formMisleading and Deceptive Statements
Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), a person acting in trade or commerce must not make any false or misleading statements in connection with the goods or services they are supplying or promoting. The ACL applies to advertising on social media platforms such as Instagram. Suppose you make statements about your business or pay an “influencer” to endorse your product. You must guard against misleading your customers by disclosing the accuracy of these statements and any compensation provided in exchange for endorsement.
Notably, you may also contravene the ACL if you do not respond to any misleading statements a third party posts online about your business.
The Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) provides guidance on how businesses should manage their social media pages toe avoid contravening the misleading and deceptive provisions of the ACL. These include:
- minimising risk by monitoring your social media pages; and
- responding to any misleading statements or removing the misleading statement.
Defamation
Defamation is the publication of false information that harms a person or business’s reputation. Given the nature of social media platforms, it is very simple to publish defamatory content that can reach many people quickly, potentially resulting in harm to the business.
For example, in 2014, an Australian student made harmful comments about their teacher on Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately, the school teacher was awarded $105,000 in damages for the defamatory comments.
Employment Law
Social media platforms can potentially be used as a medium for online bullying and harassment. This can lead to claims of discrimination or constructive unfair dismissal. Notably, as an employer, you must be aware that you may be vicariously liable for the acts of one employee against another in the course of their employment in your business. It is, therefore, important that a business has appropriate social media policies in place for its employees.
Social Media Policy
To avoid any of the aforementioned legal troubles when engaging with social media platforms, you should craft a robust social media policy. A good social media policy will:
- provide guidelines around employees posting about your organisation or business on their personal social media accounts;
- list the organisational or business goals and values that you want your employees to incorporate in any social media content;
- outline to your employees what information is public and confidential so they know what they can and cannot share;
- outline the process and approach for resolving online conflicts such as negative comments and trolling;
- outline what kind of behaviour and conduct is acceptable and what is not;
- define security protocols;
- state all the legal compliances needed; and
- outline the role and responsibilities of your employees, for example, who covers social media ads versus who handles customer service.
The Benefits of Social Media for Businesses
Despite some of the pitfalls of social media, it is important to remind yourself of the advantages that social media platforms provide. Some advantages include:
- engaging with customers on an easily accessible platform;
- promoting your business’ products and services; and
- increasing business revenue and invaluable goodwill when utilised correctly.
Your business’ brand represents your values, identity and reputation. Learn how to create a successful brand and protect it.
Key Takeaways
Social media platforms can raise a host of legal challenges for businesses. This can include infringing on intellectual property rights, distributing misleading information, potential defamation and employment issues. However, you can take steps to minimise these risks by applying appropriate procedures and being vigilant about matters such as privacy and misleading or deceptive conduct.
If you require assistance creating a social media policy, our experienced contract lawyers can assist 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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