Danger Within and Without: The laws around the use and abuse of social media

Jo Sanders

15 October 2015

Potential Risk Points

• Social media policy and controls

• Infringing other people’s rights

• User generated content

• (Social) Media crisis - negative story

• Activists and campaigns

• Data breach - loss of data or data theft

• Website social media platforms hacked into and taken over

• Criminal threats

Social Media Policies and Controls

• Employee social media policy

• preventing use at work

• prohibiting representing company in employee posts

• prohibiting posts about work on private accounts

• Twitter followers and Facebook friends

• Company social media accounts

• who controls

• plan ahead

• approvals

Company Posts

• Risks:

• Libel (statement about a person or company which lowers their reputation)

• Copyright (using a copyright work (e.g. words, images, photos, film, music) without the owner’s permission)

• Privacy (disclosing information about someone in which they have a “reasonable expectation of privacy”)

• Data protection (Data Protection Act 1998 controls use of all electronically stored personal data about living individuals where that information used is not purely for personal, family or household affairs)

• Trade Marks (using someone else’s trade mark)

• Consumer trading laws (blacklisted practices)

• Advertising codes

Company Posts

• Company liability

• vicariously liable for employees’ activities

• role of “publisher” where content made available via your computer systems including user generated content:- own website

- emails

- social media posts which company makes

- user generated content- company liable if it makes available eg. comments section on web page

- not liable for user generated content on external sites eg. company Facebook page

• Tweets on the company’s Twitter account that your competitor is involved in dodgy dealings

• uses some clips from the latest James Bond film promo in a marketing campaign

• posts on his personal Facebook account that the company’s customers are morons and are all being ripped off

Social Media and Dismissal

Game Retail v Laws (2015)

• Private Twitter account

• 65 stores were followers (making his tweets available to customers)

• How offensive are the comments – relate to clients / customers or working conditions?

• Is there a social media policy?

• Public / private

Whistleblower

Feeding the media#journorequest

Anthony BonniciThe Times— Late Night Online Editor Bio: Contrarian. Late Night Online Editor @ http://www.thetimes.co.uk. Star of thousands of embarrassing videos, apparently. I don't do smilies. Also @journalismtips Location: London Beat: United KingdomRT @katlay: Anyone out there who has come across staff wearing a niqab/burka in a care home, GP surgery or hospital? #journorequestabout 9 hours agoReplyRetweetFavorite

Michael HunterFinancial Times— Markets Reporter Bio: Markets reporter for the Financial Times; in the unlikely event of any unattributed opinions appearing, they are mine alone; only endorsements are the odd beer Location: London Beats: Business and Finance, United KingdomRT @laurenfruen: Looking for England super fans thinking of travelling to Brazil 2014. #journorequestThursday, August 22ndReplyRetweetFavorite

Daisy GreenwellThe Times— Feature Writer and Young Times Editor Bio: Commissioning editor & writer on @TheTimes2 at @TheTimes. Bred in IP12 - now residing E5. Location: London Beats: Arts and Entertainment, United KingdomTuesday, August 27thReplyRetweetFavorite

I'm looking for someone to tell us anonymously about their hellish experience as a stepmother - please get in touch #JournoRequestMonday, August 19thReplyRetweetFavorite

Any ex-Ryanair pilots out there? #JournoRequestTuesday, July 30thReplyRetweetFavorite

Hate Pages

• Dedicated detractors webpage, community forums, and .sucks

• Harassment and “trolling”

• Complaint to social media platforms under their terms and abuse buttons

• Takedown of offensive content on grounds of libel, copyright or trade mark infringement

• Unmasking anonymous posters

• Injunctions to ban persistent and distressing conduct

• Criminal offences, including to post a “grossly abusive message”

Cyber Crime

Cyber CriminalAnonymous

Data Loss

Data Loss

• Claims from customers under Data Protection Act 1998

• New General Data Protection Regulation due in 2017/8 will introduce self-reporting of breaches

• Information Commissioner’s Office fines

• Reputational damage

Top 5 Tips For Minimising Risk

• Educate team and have clear approval process and sound policies

• Use data protection laws with confidence

• Plan for the crisis

• Get the right decision-makers in the room quickly

• Don’t be afraid to use legal tools BUT do exercise judgment

DON’T

Summary

Contact – Jo Sanders

• Email: jo.sanders@harbottle.com

• Telephone office: 0207 667 5000

• Harbottle & Lewis, Hanover House, 14 Hanover Square, London W1S 1HP