As social media continues to shift the way we communicate both personally and professionally, businesses are looking for creative way to connect and engage with customers. Because of social media’s potential reach and immediacy businesses need to be aware that employees as well as third parties can cause problems.
The one case that stands out is the Federal Court Case of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) v Allergy Pathway Pty Ltd (No 2) [2011] FCA 74 which has implications for all businesses that engage in social media. Organisations need to be mindful about the potential responsibility for user generated content on their social media platforms.
If businesses see misleading or false comments on their social media platforms and decide not to remove them, then potentially a business can be held liable for such information even though they did not post the content.
Businesses need to implement procedures to regularly monitor comments on their social media. Considering the vast amount of content traffic on social media this can be a time-consuming responsibility, however, it is better than the legal consequences.
With social media interaction continuing to increase the following steps may assist businesses:
Social Media Policy
Every organisation needs to have a social media policy whether they have 1 employee or 50. It is important to make sure the policy is up to date as well as follow through with education and training for staff. Further, attach this policy to social media platforms and website so that third parties are aware of what your guidelines are when they engage with your business.
Monitor
This can be a laborious process, however, it is important to keep up-to-date in terms of what individuals are posting and writing on your business platforms. If content is not monitored then how will a business know whether content is inappropriate, discriminatory, misleading or false?
Act Promptly
If a business is monitoring their platforms regularly, then when they become aware of inappropriate content they can remove it as soon as practical. If they don’t do this they leave themselves exposed to potential legal ramifications.
How prepared is your business in dealing with misleading or false content? Does your business monitor third party comments?
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to ‘tweet’ or ‘repost’ this article or leave your comments….
Tags: Liability for Third party Comments on Social Media • Social Media Content • social media in the workplace • Social Media Risks • Third Party Comments on Social Media
Beware Third Party Comments on Business Social Media Platforms
As social media continues to shift the way we communicate both personally and professionally, businesses are looking for creative way to connect and engage with customers. Because of social media’s potential reach and immediacy businesses need to be aware that employees as well as third parties can cause problems.
The one case that stands out is the Federal Court Case of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) v Allergy Pathway Pty Ltd (No 2) [2011] FCA 74 which has implications for all businesses that engage in social media. Organisations need to be mindful about the potential responsibility for user generated content on their social media platforms.
If businesses see misleading or false comments on their social media platforms and decide not to remove them, then potentially a business can be held liable for such information even though they did not post the content.
Businesses need to implement procedures to regularly monitor comments on their social media. Considering the vast amount of content traffic on social media this can be a time-consuming responsibility, however, it is better than the legal consequences.
With social media interaction continuing to increase the following steps may assist businesses:
Social Media Policy
Every organisation needs to have a social media policy whether they have 1 employee or 50. It is important to make sure the policy is up to date as well as follow through with education and training for staff. Further, attach this policy to social media platforms and website so that third parties are aware of what your guidelines are when they engage with your business.
Monitor
This can be a laborious process, however, it is important to keep up-to-date in terms of what individuals are posting and writing on your business platforms. If content is not monitored then how will a business know whether content is inappropriate, discriminatory, misleading or false?
Act Promptly
If a business is monitoring their platforms regularly, then when they become aware of inappropriate content they can remove it as soon as practical. If they don’t do this they leave themselves exposed to potential legal ramifications.
How prepared is your business in dealing with misleading or false content? Does your business monitor third party comments?
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to ‘tweet’ or ‘repost’ this article or leave your comments….
Tags: Liability for Third party Comments on Social Media • Social Media Content • social media in the workplace • Social Media Risks • Third Party Comments on Social Media