When social media goes wrong

By Rachel Harrison, commercial litigation solicitor at Farleys.

Most businesses now use social media as a marketing tool to promote their brand.

You may have already taken steps to protect your brand or business name, perhaps by incorporating a limited company or registering a trademark or a design right, but you should also be aware of threats to your business through social media.

Your account could be open to exploitation, perhaps by an unhappy customer, competitor or a disgruntled employee. If this happens, it could expose you to damaging comments, giving away trade secrets or business know-how, or by disclosing private information.

This could cause embarrassment or worse: expose you to financial loss and damage. This is especially concerning for businesses that have a particularly active or prominent social media profile.

The legal issues arising from the misuse of a social media account can be wide-ranging and could include defamation, copyright infringement or breach of confidence.

Should your social media account be exploited, there are steps you can take to limit the damage.

A simple ‘cease and desist’ letter can often be effective in obtaining a quick resolution at a reasonable cost. This sets out the offending behaviour, the remedy you seek (such as removing an untrue post), and gives a short deadline to remedy the situation.

A warning shot may be sufficient – or you may want to take matters further.

Ultimately, you may have a claim to recover any financial losses suffered as a direct result of the conduct.

This could include applying for an urgent injunction to prevent the behaviour from taking place.

You should also consider your position internally in relation to your employees’ use of social media. Having a social media policy in place is a sensible idea. As an employer, you could find yourself held vicariously liable for the acts of your employees using social media, so you need to ensure that you have safeguards in place to minimise that risk.