We live in a world that is increasingly online for communication, photos and videos, shopping, entertainment, business, and banking. Having access to the world from the palms of our hands makes it incredibly simple to share our thoughts, pictures, shopping finds, news, and more with just a click. While it is an exciting feature of our interconnected lives, social media can also be dangerous. Using social networking to chat and connect with others about our personal and professional lives has given rise to legal cases stemming from employers seeing employees' social media posts as being detrimental to their businesses. This brings up all kinds of questions: what speech is protected? How far is too far? Could a business experience legal problems for what an employee posts online? Lawyers are urging caution when it comes to online activities, both for employees and employers. If you have questions about how much control your employer can have over your online life or if you're an employer wondering if you can impose limits to what your employees post online, our network of experienced, dedicated attorneys can give you advice before a problem occurs to avoid the issue altogether, or help you through any legal issues that might have arisen from online content. Learn more about the benefits of our legal subscription plans for small business or for individuals and families and read on for a few general tips.

What Is Protected Speech?

Employees often have the misconception that the Freedom of Speech in the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects them and that they can say whatever they want, but this is not true. Freedom of Speech rights are not as strong in the work place and only a few types of speech are protected under the First Amendment and by the National Labor Relations Act, such as speaking in your workplace about your religion or talking about issues of public concern.

Online settings are not the workplace, and you do have the right to post about your wages, hours, and working conditions; however, you cannot posts threats, racial epithets or other hate speech, disclose trade secrets or other confidential information about your employer, or harass anyone, and employers have the right to look into social media posts to make sure that their information stays confidential or that their company is not being misrepresented by employees. For example, employees have been caught making false reviews about employers on review sites, impersonating a company's competitor and making comments, and making defamatory statements about an employer. These actions create legal problems for everyone involved.

Each case will vary, but the legal consequences can be devastating, and, even if you are not legally impacted, your reputation - or your company's - can suffer.

Creating Boundaries

Companies who are worried about employees posting problematic things online can and should have a social media policy in their employee handbook. Creating a policy that breaks down what employees can and cannot talk about online can avoid having employees disclose trade secrets or other confidential information. Attorneys advise that employers should proceed with caution here because you can create different legal problems for your company if you create rules that limit what employees can say too aggressively.

Trials Are On The Rise

In the not-too-distant past, hearing about defamation or libel usually only pertained to newspapers, magazines, and other media publishers. Those days are long gone. The ability for anyone to post anything at any time in a public forum means that each individual person is liable for what they publish online. Attorneys warn that it is crucial that you know your rights in regards to social media, regardless of whether you are an employer or an employee.

Social media is only getting bigger and its use has gotten more normalized over time. It is critical now more than ever to understand your rights and responsibilities before using it. Take the time to consider your words before you post and think about possible consequences of your content before publishing it in public. Remember: the Internet is forever and content never really goes away, even if it is deleted. If you have questions, either as an employee or as an employer, about your rights, responsibilities, and legal liability in regards to social media and the Internet, you can speak with an experienced, dedicated attorney today about your concerns through our legal subscription plans. We have plans tailored to individuals and families as well as plans that cater to the needs of small businesses, all for one low, monthly fee.

Learn more about our legal subscription plans for families and individuals or sign up now! If you're a small business, you can learn more about our business-specific plans or sign up today!