Social media and the law

Complying with legal issues from the start, makes your social media implementation easier.  Horten Law’s Heidi Steen Jensen gives us tips…

As social media use becomes more widespread in all types of businesses, there are legal issues that must be considered. “If you think about what you need to do to comply with legal regulations from the start, your social media strategy implementation becomes easier,” says Heidi Steen Jensen, an attorney and expert in intellectual property, media and entertainment, and IT and telecommunication law at Horten Law Firm. “If you involve an attorney in the beginning, you won’t have to think about what’s legal and what isn’t, every day.”

Heidi points out that getting legal advice doesn’t have to be so time-consuming. “It could be as simple as picking up the telephone and having a 30-minute conversation about what you’re planning. You can get feedback about the laws and include it in your strategy,” she says. “This will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.”

The legal challenges you should note in your social media marketing include data protection, marketing practices, disclosure obligations, and consumer rights. <s></s>

“If companies take being compliant with the national regulations of any country they are marketing in as a starting point, they can be fairly comfortable they won’t break any laws,” says Heidi. However, there is an exception if you are marketing within the EU. According to the EU’s Principle of Domestic Control, you only have to comply with the laws in the country of establishment. That means that if you are based in Denmark, you only need to comply with Danish law. “Many companies are not aware of this, but you can run the same campaigns throughout the EU and not have to worry about the regulations within every EU country.”

If you are marketing in Denmark, there are some basic regulations in the Danish Marketing Practices Act that companies must follow. So ask your attorney about:

§ 1 – Good marketing practice

§ 4 – Advertising identification

§ 6 – Email marketing/SPAM

§ 8 – Children and young people

§ 9 – Sales promotions

The Danish E-commerce Act also says that you must clearly identify yourself as an advertiser no matter what online or social media platform you are using – this includes using ambassadors who receive compensation to blog or tweet about your products or services. “This is valid all over the EU, and in most countries around the world,” remarks Heidi.

Another thing to remember is that you must have prior consent to send messages via facebook or other platforms. This is considered SPAM just the same as sending unsolicited messages by email.

While it may seem there a many legal considerations, it doesn’t have to be difficult, according to Heidi. “Get legal involved in your social media plans early, and you’ll have fewer problems – and expenses – later.”

Co-hosted by Eye for Image and Horten Law Firm, Think International III [insert link when it is working again] brought together 50 international marketing and communications managers in Copenhagen to learn more about how to make social media work for their companies. Social media experts presented their experiences and tips in four areas:

1. A multi-cultural perspective on social media
2. Building a social media machine in 20 countries
3. Legal perspectives on international social media
4. Managing a social media power brand in a global context