Social Media and the law: Online privacy—an oxymoron?

In one of my PR classes today (Public Relations Theory to be exact) we were discussing the basics of defamation—and its potential dangers toward the public relation profession. I have learned about what is and what is not acceptable in many of my previous classes, but this was the first time anyone questioned defamation guidelines in social media. And actually, none of us came up with a real answer.

If what you say in an e-mail is private, is Twittering with friends public?

See the problem lies in the gray area where social media lives—does a social media account have to be one of personal, corporate or public, or is it OK to have one that is used for all three? I know that I use my Twitter account as both a personal and professional online tool, and for this reason I am extremely careful as to what I post.  But what needs to be considered is where the line is drawn with Twitter.  For example, if I tweet that a certain company is infested with roaches in its factory could I face the same consequence as if a rival company tweeted something similar?

The defamation laws are not so much ambiguous as they are easy to manipulate when it comes to slander and libel in official print. This makes it even more difficult to rope all in social media statements- tweets, wall posts, blogging, etc.

So is anything on the Internet safe from lawsuit?

I have a simple mindset when it comes to this stuff. When writing for a published medium, know what you’re saying and make sure it is the truth. In social media, listen to your mother—if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Wow, a blogosphere full of me’s would be painfully boring.

I am sure I will exercise my opinion more harshly as I secure my place in the PR field, but some people are just dumb when it comes to how they present themselves online. (I’ll just assume you have heard about some professional slip-ups on sites like Facebook in the news.)

Which brings us to the glorious First Amendment. When is holding back an opinion compromising your right to free speech, and when is it deemed “inappropriate” and liable for legal consequence? One of blogging’s biggest roles is to broadcast discussions on products, companies and services.

The subject of defamation has been tirelessly debated among PR professionals, but the exponentially growing number of users of the Social Media Juggernaut (Watch: Social Media Revolution) has thrown in a twist for all of us to enjoy. Now perhaps tweets will legally be considered published material and Facebook will no longer ruin professionals because of their pictures, but instead with their words.

I did some research on the matter and came across a few articles:

Online Privacy v. Defamation Law

Bloggers Beware: Libel and Invasion of Privacy

Man sues his friend for Facebook libel

I actually have not claimed a position on whether I think social media accounts like a personal Twitter page should be considered public and subject to libel. I must say that I have never asked so many questions while writing an article. Maybe you Marketing Conversation readers could share with me what you think, and I’ll enlighten my peers (and my professor for that matter).