There’s no doubt that we are living in the age of social media. You may remember a story last year of a woman very much focused on Facebook. The Guardian reportedthat she was so focused that she walked off a pier, fell into the water and was rescued while still clutching her phone. The moral of the story is to pay attention.
Various social media legal issues arise when website users share content online across different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, Reddit, Wikipedia, personal blogs and more.
Social media laws relating to who owns the content being shared, when and where sharing is appropriate and what limits may be imposed on sharing often raise issues relating to trademark infringement, copyright infringement, social media marketing, labor relations and more.
Here are five tips that may keep you from finding yourself in trouble when it comes to different social media platforms.
1. Online Contests & Promotions: Look at the Terms of Service (TOS) or other similar guidelines posted by the platform that you are using. These are the rules to follow.Facebook has some very specific guidance. “Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries” is not permitted).”
2. Reviews: Sites like Yelp allow users to share their experiences and provide ratings for different businesses. Negative ratings can be harmful and some business owners may be wary of these review sites. However some may have pushed against the reviews a bit too hard by adding clauses into consumer contracts that would prevent their customers from making negative comments against them online. California recently passed a law protecting the rights of consumers to leave bad online reviews. An article in The Washington Post says, “The bill bans businesses from forcing consumers into contracts in which they waive their right to comment on the service they receive, and it also bars businesses from otherwise penalizing customers for such statements. It imposes fines of $2,500 for the first violation and $5,000 for each thereafter. If a violation was willful, intentional or reckless, an additional fine of $10,000 could be levied.”
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