The present age is the age of social media, where all small and big businesses are run through the use of social media.
Is your business protected against potential legal complications you could face while promoting your products and services through social media? Are your employees aware of these issues ways to steer clear of infringing upon laws? It’s high time you were aware of the top five legal issues in social media.
Many people operate their businesses solely through the internet, using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., as their primary medium of communication. While effective, this approach does come with its own set of risks. The gains it nets are proportionate to the legal issues your business might be exposed to if not taken care of properly on time.
1. Revealing Confidential Information
The most common yet the most dangerous legal issue with regard to social media, is the disclosure of confidential information. Often times, the secrets of your business or some valuable information regarding shares and policies may be leaked out by the employee or any other party with information.
This could pose a direct threat to your business. You may lose your business due to its downfall, or someone can overtake it using all your secret information.
The best way to avoid this is by constantly revising the policies of your company and relay it to all your employees.
2. Illegal Use of Trademarks
There are two ways of using a trademark. One is the positive aspect while the other completely negative.
The positive aspect includes using the trademark of a company with its knowledge. Businesses often allow use of their trademarks which is in their knowledge. This way, their company is also getting promoted. However, the negative way is to use another business’s trademark as yours or employing it as a means of making money.
The solution is that the social media sites must ensure to strictly prohibit the use of a trademark by an unauthorized user.
3. Defaming Problems
Think before you write is the approach to apply here.
Using statements that could defame a business is another legal issue rampant on social media. Often times, the people involved in business, or those who were once the part of the business, post unethical and defaming remarks on social media. This may sound trivial, but it can result in serious repercussions. Even anonymous posts can be traced to find out the name of the person.
4. Ambiguous Posts on Social Media
Avoiding social media today is impractical. However, because posts, statuses or tweets on social media are small length messages, they often appear ambiguous. Your innocent message may be interpreted in multiple ways. This could become a serious problem for you and your company.
Revise before making any ambiguous comment or post.
5. Illegal Use of Copyrighted Work
Unauthorized use of copyright work, such as videos, photos, articles, websites, is another common legal issue today. This is highly unethical as well as a crime, using someone else’s copyrighted work without their permission.
The protection is to inform the employees about privacy. While posting your work on social media, highlight that your work is copyright protected.
The above issues are the top rated issues of today for businesses operating in the online environment. However, there can be many more ways to breach privacy laws through social media. Just know how to protect your work and you will be saved from these legal issues.