Social Media and the Law

This chapter reviews the law governing social media including defamation, privacy, confidential information, data protection, and copyright. It briefly discusses the main risks for those involved in public relations, offering practical tips to prevent legal action. Unlike newspapers and broadcasters, the public publishing via social media do not have internal legal departments. The problem is that there are risks and threats of litigation as the same laws and rules do operate online. Publication of information on social media sites brings with it the threat of legal action from people and companies who wish to enforce their legal rights, be it a right to reputation, confidence or intellectual property. So if a complaint is received it is important to assess possible defences. There are a number of defences to a defamation claim. The most straightforward defence is that published factual allegation should be true. A statement may be protected from a claim in defamation on grounds of public policy or if the publisher has behaved responsibly and is reporting a matter of public interest.