Social networking: the legal angle

There are no legal barriers to getting involved with online social networking - but there are risks. If you are hosting a site it is vital to bear these in mind, and take steps to reduce them.

Defamation and liability for content

One of the main risks involves being sued for publishing defamatory content. If customers post defamatory material on your site, you as the host could be held liable.

You can protect yourself against this by using strict and clear usage rules (available on the site that all users have to sign up to), as well as a tight notice and take-down process where you remove content immediately if it is complained about. The usage rules would stipulate that users may not post content which is in any way illegal such as being obscene, defamatory, promoting terrorism and so on. A lawyer could help you in drafting such a policy.

Strange though it may sound, monitoring the content of your site could increase risk from a legal point of view. To be protected as a host you will need to show that you removed any illegal content immediately you became aware of it. If you are monitoring the site to find out what your customers think of your pub, this defence might be unavailable.

This doesn't mean you should actively avoid reviewing the site content as of course that carries risks also. An approach might be to regularly review what is being posted and remove any potentially inflammatory or offensive material. However, if you review your site and fail to remove defamatory content, this could damage your legal position.

Data Protection and Privacy

Another issue to consider is privacy and data protection - breaching these laws can be a criminal offence. You should seek legal assistance in drafting a clearly-stated policy setting out what customer details will be used for, and making it clear that personal data will not be used for any purpose other than that stated.

Transparency is key - customers must be told what their personal details will be used for and this policy should be made available on your site. Security is also key - personal details must not be shared with anyone else and you need to use reasonable technological (and practical) security measures to ensure the details are held securely.

You should not use your new database to send registered users spam emails, or pass on customer details to others who might similarly bombard them. However, if you word your privacy policy correctly at time of registration then you should be able to email customers from time to time about relevant events or special offers.

When you launch a new website you must notify the Data Protection Commissioner, for which there is a small administrative charge. For further information about your data protection obligations, go to: www.ico.gov.uk

Graham Hann is a partner in the technology team at law firm Taylor Wessing - G.Hann@taylorwessing.com​