Yet despite many of the benefits of social media platforms, these platforms also create opportunity for abuse and often bring out the worst in people and often at the cost of others. Many people lose sight of the fact that the moment something is posted on social media sites, it is considered "published" and is therefore subject to the laws applicable to traditional media, such as newspapers.
Accordingly, claims for defamation and hate speech as well as dismissal or disciplinary action for social media misconduct become very real possibilities.
Our courts have recently set a new legal precedent after it granted a Facebook user an interdict preventing a friend from posting about his personal life on the platform after she defamed him thereon.
In another case a woman was awarded R40 000 in damages after claiming that her former husband and his new wife were bad-mouthing her on Facebook.
The judge found that although the former husband was not the author of the postings, he was tagged in and knew about them and allowed his name to be coupled with that of his new wife thus creating liability jointly with the author of the postings.
There have also been instances where people have been sued for publishing hate speech on social media platforms. Hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is prohibited because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group.
Although freedom of expression is a constitutional right, it is not an absolute right. If what you say, or publish via social media platforms, has a negative impact on the rights of another, then your right to freedom of expression may be limited.
Disciplinary actions, including dismissal for social media conduct have increased drastically over the past few years often following on the heel of comments made or posted on social media sites by employees.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has dealt with several of these cases where the dismissal was found to be fair based on the evidence garnered from the social media sites.
Some of the grounds for dismissals have included derogatory Facebook status updates, an employee criticising management, criticising the employer, employees using social media to convey internal matters of the business to former employees, etc.
To avoid becoming entangled in legal issues regarding statements on social media there are few notes to keep in mind:
- Regularly check your social media profiles to ensure that your name is not being linked to defamatory statements of others.
- Do not post anything which could be regarded as incitement to cause harm based on race, religion, ethnic background, gender, sexual preference etc.
- Keep posts legal, ethical and respectful.
- Do not engage in online activities which could harm the reputation of your employer.
- Do not disclose any confidential or business information of your employer.
- Do not discuss colleagues, managers or information pertaining to the company.
- A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself whether you would be willing to say something out loud in a room full of people or colleagues. If the answer is no, then you shouldn't consider posting it on social media.
