Social Media Risk And The Law

Social media has many advantages for professional communication – but it also carries considerable risks, including legal pitfalls. This book equips students and communication professionals with the knowledge and skills to help minimise the risks that can arise when they post or host on social media. It offers them strategies for taking advantage of the opportunities of social media while also navigating the ethical, legal, and organisational risks that can lead to audience outrage, brand damage, expensive litigation and communication crises. The book uses stakeholder theory and risk analysis tools to anticipate, identify, address and balance these opportunities and risks. It takes a global approach to risk and social media law, drawing on fascinating case studies from key international jurisdictions to explain and illustrate the basic principles. Whether you are a corporate communicator, social media manager, journalist, marketer, blogger or student you will find this book an essential addition to your professional library as the first reference point when social media and legal risks arise.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat allow users to connect with one another and share information with the click of a mouse or a tap on a touchscreen—and have become vital tools for professionals in the news and strategic communication fields. But as rapidly as these services have grown in popularity, their legal ramifications aren’t widely understood. To what extent do communicators put themselves at risk for defamation and privacy lawsuits when they use these tools, and what rights do communicators have when other users talk about them on social networks? How can an entity maintain control of intellectual property issues—such as posting copyrighted videos and photographs—consistent with the developing law in this area? How and when can journalists and publicists use these tools to do their jobs without endangering their employers or clients? Including two new chapters that examine First Amendment issues and ownership of social media accounts and content, Social Media and the Law brings together thirteen media law scholars to address these questions and more, including current issues like copyright, online impersonation, anonymity, cyberbullying, sexting, and live streaming. Students and professional communicators alike need to be aware of laws relating to defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and government regulation—and this guidebook is here to help them navigate the tricky legal terrain of social media.

With the emergence of social media comes both opportunity and legal risk for companies and consumers alike. The widespread use of social media sites for personal and business purposes has given rise to an array of legal issues, including violations of intellectual property law, privacy law, employment law, and criminal law. Wat are the benefits and legal ramifications of social media use? What should be considered before using social media services? How much control do employers have over what their employees post online? "Navigating the legal issues surrounding social media" provides feedback from some of today's leading legal minds on identifying and avoiding the legal risks that arise when using social media platforms. These experts address what should be taken into account by both businesses and individuals before using social media, and discuss strategies that can be used by hosting providers to limit liability. This report offers readers an on-the-spot look at these issues as they continue to unfold.

How are users influenced by social media platforms when they generate content, and does this influence affect users’ compliance with copyright laws? These are pressing questions in today’s internet age, and Regulating Content on Social Media answers them by analysing how the behaviours of social media users are regulated from a copyright perspective. Corinne Tan, an internet governance specialist, compares copyright laws on selected social media platforms, namely Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia, with other regulatory factors such as the terms of service and the technological features of each platform. This comparison enables her to explore how each platform affects the role copyright laws play in securing compliance from their users. Through a case study detailing the content generative activities undertaken by a hypothetical user named Jane Doe, as well as drawing from empirical studies, the book argues that – in spite of copyright’s purported regulation of certain behaviours – users are 'nudged' by the social media platforms themselves to behave in ways that may be inconsistent with copyright laws. Praise for Regulating Content on Social Media 'This book makes an important contribution to the field of social media and copyright. It tackles the real issue of how social media is designed to encourage users to engage in generative practices, in a sense effectively “seducing” users into practices that involve misuse or infringement of copyright, whilst simultaneously normalising such practices.’ Melissa de Zwart, Dean of Law, Adelaide Law School, Australia "This timely and accessible book examines the regulation of content generative activities across five popular social media platforms – Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. Its in-depth, critical and comparative analysis of the platforms' growing efforts to align terms of service and technological features with copyright law should be of great interest to anyone studying the interplay of law and new media." Peter K. Yu, Director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property, Texas A&M University

The Social Media Handbook is a comprehensive risk and compliance management toolkit that walks employers step-by-step through the process of developing and implementing effective social media policy and compliance management programs that are designed to minimize—and in some cases prevent—social networking and web 2.0 risks and other electronic disasters. Throughout this important resource Nancy Flynn (an internationally recognized expert on workplace social media) offers a guide to best practices for creating safe, effective, and compliant electronic business communications. The book contains a thorough review of the risks inherent in employees' social media use and content and explores how organizations can help manage behavior, mitigate risks, and maximize compliance through the implementation of strategic social media compliance management programs. These programs combine written policies, supported by comprehensive employee education and are enforced by proven-effective technology tools. Once these policies and programs are in place employers can safely take advantage of the marketing and communications benefits offered by social media. Covering a wealth of material, the book includes vital information on topics such as social media and the law; managing records and e-discovery compliantly; regulatory compliance; privacy and security; blog risks and compliance rules; mobile devices drive social media risks; a seven-step plan for social media policy and compliance management; conducting a social media audit; creating social media policies; content rules and compliance; policy compliance and education; reputation management; and more. In addition to addressing pertinent topics on risk management, the book contains cautionary, real-life social networking disaster stories that show how organizations can lose revenue and reputations, reveals how employees can lose jobs, and explains how individuals can face public humiliation. The Social Media Handbook is a hands-on guide written for human resource professionals, information technology managers, legal professionals, compliance officers, records managers, and others who need to manage today's technology tools with up-to-date employment rules.

Now you can establish sound social media policy quickly, because SocialMedia: Legal Risk and Corporate Policy gives you immediate access toconcise, comprehensive coverage. Spanning two distinct sections-- "ManagingLegal Risk" and "Navigating the Social Media Services' Privacy Policies andPractices"

The plain-English business guide to avoiding social media legal risks and liabilities—for anyone using social media for business—written specifically for non-attorneys! You already know social media can help you find customers, strengthen relationships, and build your reputation, but if you are not careful, it also can expose your company to expensive legal issues and regulatory scrutiny. This insightful, first-of-its-kind book provides business professionals with strategies for navigating the unique legal risks arising from social, mobile, and online media. Distilling his knowledge into a 100% practical guide specifically for non-lawyers, author and seasoned business attorney, Robert McHale, steps out of the courtroom to review today’s U.S. laws related to social media and alert businesses to the common (and sometimes hidden) pitfalls to avoid. Best of all, McHale offers practical, actionable solutions, preventative measures, and valuable tips on shielding your business from social media legal exposures associated with employment screening, promotions, endorsements, user-generated content, trademarks, copyrights, privacy, security, defamation, and more... You’ll Learn How To • Craft legally compliant social media promotions, contests, sweepstakes, and advertising campaigns • Write effective social media policies and implement best practices for governance • Ensure the security of sensitive company and customer information • Properly monitor and regulate the way your employees use social media • Avoid high-profile social media mishaps that can instantly damage reputation, brand equity, and goodwill, and create massive potential liability • Avoid unintentional employment and labor law violations in the use of social media in pre-employment screening • Manage legal issues associated with game-based marketing, “virtual currencies,” and hyper-targeting • Manage the legal risks of user-generated content (UGC) • Protect your trademarks online, and overcome brandjacking and cybersquatting • Understand the e-discovery implications of social media in lawsuits

Learn how to navigate the ins and outs of the law and social media. How should you respond to a request to remove copyrighted materials from a Facebook page? If you create a Twitter username at work, who owns the username when you change jobs? Can you be sued for libel if someone thinks your posts are defamatory? If you’ve ever asked yourself these kinds of questions, this pioneering legal handbook is for you. Despite the enormous growth in social media usage by businesses and influencers, very little has been written about the laws affecting their activities. In this new edition of the Legal Guide to Social Media, Kimberly A. Houser, law professor and tech attorney, explains the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them including what social media influencers could have done to protect themselves from the lawsuits resulting from the Fyre Festival debacle. Easy-to-understand, comprehensive, and up-to-date, the Legal Guide to Social Media, Second Edition provides the latest information on case law and statutes. It covers everything from privacy laws to the legal considerations in setting up a page or website as well as new governmental regulations. This plain English legal companion offers examples of and solutions to the kinds of situations you can expect to encounter when posting online content, whether for yourself, your own business, or on behalf of your client’s business. You’ll learn how to avoid liability for defamation and third-party posts, how to protect your own content, the unique legal issues surrounding social media in the workplace, and much, much more. The new edition covers new state regulations on privacy, data security and advertising; how to avoid intellectual property infringement actions; and the newer legal risks for influencers.