14 Feb How to mitigate the legal risks associated with social media management
As a small business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you’ve taken all of those responsible for social media management through your processes, procedures and outlined an enforceable code of conduct for any breaches.
Let’s face it, social media management has become a mainstay now. And not only in our personal lives but also in our business worlds.
It’s vital that we take the necessary steps to mitigate risks. Especially when it comes to employees or contractors managing social profiles and platforms.
As a small business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you’ve taken all of those responsible for social media management through your processes, procedures and outlined an enforceable code of conduct for any breaches.
After all, armed with social media logins, disgruntled employees or other parties hold a lot of power. And it’s your business’ reputation on the line. This can all come crashing down with a few keystrokes!
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What can you do to mitigate the risks of social media management?
- Implement a clear, enforceable social media policy and code of conduct. It has to prohibit employees from posting under the business’ name, and set out the consequences for breach.
- Identify a specific person or company to be in charge of your business’ social media management. Ensure that you have the necessary contractual mechanisms in place to govern their role.
- If the person in charge of your business’ social media management is an employee, ensure they are well aware of and understand your business’ policy on social media. Ensure their employment contract contains clauses that set out your business’ social media policy and the consequences for the employee’s breach of it.
- If you’re outsourcing your social media management function, ensure that you have a tight agreement in place. And this with any social media services provider, to ensure all the legal protections are in place e.g. liability, indemnity, intellectual property ownership.
- Ensure you, as the business owner, have full ownership and control of all passwords.
- Ensure your business has up to date terms and conditions on its website. It’s important that these terms are specific to fit your business and comply with Australian law. It’s also important that these terms set out your business’ rules relating to third parties linking to your business’ site and/or posting on the site.
- Ensure that you have an up to date Privacy Policy that is tailored to fit your business and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles.
We have in mind that social media is a place for informality, socialness and a little bit of fun. But above all, remember that there can be dire consequences when it comes to social media management. Especially without the proper processes in place to protect yourself.
Check out some more social media fails of 2017 so far here.
To make sure you don’t make it to the ‘fail’ list, get in touch with our team to see if you’ve got all your social media policies up to scratch.
Contact us today if you require any assistance with social media law.
(c) Progressive Legal Pty Ltd – All legal rights reserved (2020)
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Ian Aldridge is the Founder and Principal Lawyer Director at Progressive Legal. He has over 15 years experience in advising businesses in Australia and the UK. After practising in commercial litigation for 12 years in major Australian and International Law Firms, he decided to set up a NewLaw law firm in Australia and assist growing Australian businesses. Since then, he has advised over 2,500 small businesses over the past 6 years alone in relation to Intellectual Property Law, Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Workplace and Privacy Law. He has strived to build a law firm that takes a different approach to providing legal services. A truly client-focused law firm, Ian has built Progressive Legal that strives to deliver on predictable costs, excellent communication and care for his clients. As a legal pioneer, Ian has truly changed the way legal services are being provided in Australia, by building Legal Shield™, a legal subscription to obtain tailored legal documents and advice in a front-loaded retainer package, a world-first. He has a double degree in Law (Hons) and Economics (with a marketing major). He was admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW in 2005.
