1st Edition
Social Media Risk and the Law A Guide for Global Communicators
Social media has many advantages for professional communication – but it also carries considerable risks, including legal pitfalls. This book equips students and communication professionals with the knowledge and skills to help minimise the risks that can arise when they post or host on social media.
It offers them strategies for taking advantage of the opportunities of social media while also navigating the ethical, legal, and organisational risks that can lead to audience outrage, brand damage, expensive litigation and communication crises. The book uses stakeholder theory and risk analysis tools to anticipate, identify, address and balance these opportunities and risks. It takes a global approach to risk and social media law, drawing on fascinating case studies from key international jurisdictions to explain and illustrate the basic principles.
Whether you are a corporate communicator, social media manager, journalist, marketer, blogger or student you will find this book an essential addition to your professional library as the first reference point when social media and legal risks arise.
Part 1 – Social media law and risk management: introduction and context
Chapter 1 – Introduction – defining the boundaries of the theory and practice of social media risk
Chapter 2 – Theory into practice: why is stakeholder theory important?
Chapter 3 – Risk management theories and practice in social media
Part 2 – Social media attributes contributing to opportunity and risk
Chapter 4 – The role of the audience: embracing the opportunities that social media presents
Chapter 5 – Managing legal risk in a wired world: general and specific approaches to
minimising damage for stakeholders
Part 3 – Brand and reputational opportunity and risk
Chapter 6 – Brand, reputational management and defamation on social media
Chapter 7 – Crisis communication and reporting
Part 4 – Risks at the intersection of human rights, law and ethics
Chapter 8 – Privacy in social media
Chapter 9 – See you in court: fair coverage versus a fair trial
Part 5 – Legal risks of social media in business
Chapter 10 – Employment law – private versus professional social media risk
Chapter 11 – Consumer and corporate law and social media
Chapter 12 – Intellectual property law and plagiarism
Biography
Susan Grantham is an Adjunct Fellow with the Centre for Social and Cultural Research at Griffith University. Her research focuses on the use of social media in public relations, investigating reputation management, crisis communication, and legal and ethical consequences with a focus on these evolving professions within government and pseudo government environments. She has more than 15 years’ professional experience working for and with government in strategic communications, crisis management and social media engagement.
Mark Pearson is Professor of Journalism and Social Media at Griffith University and is a journalism and media law educator, blogger and author. He has written or edited eleven books, including six editions of Australia’s leading journalism law text The Journalist's Guide to Media Law (with Mark Polden, 2019), Blogging and Tweeting Without Getting Sued (2012), and Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era (with Shelton A. Gunaratne and Sugath Senarath, 2015).
‘This is a highly practical, well-written book with up-to-date law and case studies that I will recommend that my Social Media and the Law students read.’
Dr Marilyn Bromberg, Director Higher Degrees (Coursework) The University of Western Australia Law School