Recently I attended an interesting luncheon hosted by Bond University with one of my coworkers. The topic discussed was “How to blog and tweet without getting sued”. Nobody wants to get sued, but if you’re working for an organization with an online presence or are known as an influential online figure, you’ll need to know how to stay out of trouble. Just like G.I. Joe says “Knowing is half the battle” (yes I quoted a cartoon).
During the luncheon, the speaker Mark Pearson gave several examples of companies and celebrities who were in hot water because of something they tweeted or wrote online, some of which were sued and had to pay big bucks to settle matters. Essentially this can occur when you write something that is “defaming”. Defamation is defined as a statement or comment made about a person, product, service, or organization to more than one person which creates a negative image.
I think the most surprising thing that I heard during the discussion was that companies can be held accountable for user generated content posted on their sites or social accounts. This means that you can get into trouble for something that someone else posts! The reality is that people rarely sue but it is definitely possible so it’s best to be prepare.
This shows the importance of having a community manager or social media strategist who can properly monitor and maintain a company’s social media presence as well as someone who is PR savvy with experience.
What are your thoughts on this? Leave me a comment and let me know!
For more information on this visit Mark Pearson’s site: http://works.bepress.com/mark_pearson/
Renelly Morel 
I think that is a coward way out. Sometimes people got to ignore the situation. But it’s very personal then they could sue.
I think it’s interesting that a brand can be sued when a fan post something defamatory or derogatory on their page/platform. How is this governed? Does instantly removing and acting on this appropriately count towards penance?