Social media legal precautions: real-life examples & advice

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, but it comes with its own set of legal challenges. This article presents essential legal precautions for social media users, drawing from real-life examples and expert advice. By understanding these key considerations, readers can protect themselves and their online presence more effectively.

  • Disclose Partnerships and Gifted Collaborations
  • Avoid Online Arguments to Prevent Legal Issues
  • Respect Privacy When Sharing Others’ Information
  • Consider Long-Term Impact of Social Media Posts
  • Comply with Advertising Disclosure Laws
  • Be Cautious When Stating Facts About Others
  • Understand Defamation Laws Before Posting
  • Keep Social Media Clean for Immigration Purposes
  • Obtain Permission Before Sharing Others’ Content

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Disclose Partnerships and Gifted Collaborations

One legal precaution I always recommend when using social media (regardless of whether you’re a brand or an individual) is to ensure you’re upfront about partnerships and gifted collaborations. If you’re working with influencers or promoting a product in exchange for anything of value, transparency is not just a best practice; it’s a requirement.

You should always make sure that influencers include tags like #ad or #sponsored in their posts. If you don’t do this, it can lead to trust issues with both your audience and your influencer’s audience, and might even result in legal trouble down the line.

Sometimes, people think it’s okay to skip disclosure because the post doesn’t feel like an advertisement. Unfortunately, this is exactly where problems begin. Being upfront builds credibility and keeps you compliant. This approach will truly be a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Breanna Hendry, Social Media Marketing Director, Minky Couture

Avoid Online Arguments to Prevent Legal Issues

Online arguments, even if you’re sure you’re right, rarely lead to positive outcomes. The internet allows people to be rude and mean, which eliminates any chance of a genuine discussion. Things quickly become personal, and everyone ends up angry. Moreover, these disputes consume a significant amount of time that could be spent on more productive activities. Even “winning” isn’t worth the stress and time invested. It’s generally better to simply avoid these online battles. This simple precaution helps prevent involvement in potential cyberbullying situations, whether as a target or an unwitting participant.

When managing social media for a client, I witnessed how rapidly ordinary disagreements can escalate into harmful situations with legal implications. A team member responded to criticism of our client’s product with what appeared to be a reasonable defense, but their comment was screenshot, taken out of context, and shared across platforms. This sparked a wave of negative attention and increasingly hostile messages directed at both our client and the employee personally.

The situation demonstrated how even well-intentioned responses can be weaponized in online environments. The targeted employee faced weeks of harassment that affected their mental health and professional reputation, eventually requiring legal consultation regarding potential defamation claims. This experience showed that the safest approach is often disengagement rather than defense. When you notice potentially harmful content, document it appropriately, report it through platform tools, and consult with proper authorities rather than directly engaging. This approach helps protect yourself legally while preventing unintentional contribution to harmful online dynamics.

Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation & Marketing, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency

Respect Privacy When Sharing Others’ Information

One thing you should always keep in mind when you’re on social media is to never post someone’s private information, including their home address, phone number, or workplace, without their knowledge or consent. It may not seem like a serious matter, but it can quickly escalate into a legal issue.

For example, someone posted a video of another person and indicated their location. The video went viral, and the person being filmed was harassed. In most jurisdictions, this is referred to as doxxing—and it can lead to serious legal consequences. Bottom line: always ask permission before posting personal information about others.

Yaniv Masjedi, Chief Marketing Officer, Nextiva

Consider Long-Term Impact of Social Media Posts

Never post anything you wouldn’t want a judge or jury to see. Social media content is remarkably permanent and discoverable in litigation, even if you think you’ve deleted it or locked down your privacy settings.

The Lester v. Allied Concrete case provides a sobering example – a personal injury plaintiff was ordered to pay $722,000 in sanctions after his attorney instructed him to “clean up” his Facebook page by deleting photos showing him partying with alcohol. Even though the posts weren’t directly relevant to his claims, the attempted concealment severely damaged his credibility and transformed a winning case into a costly disaster. Courts have consistently held that social media evidence isn’t private, and attempting to hide it constitutes spoliation that can torpedo otherwise legitimate legal claims.

Jason Tenenbaum, Attorney – NY State, The Law Office of Jason Tenenbaum, P.C.

Comply with Advertising Disclosure Laws

The disclosure of sponsored content along with partnership details remains a crucial legal precaution for businesses because it fulfills the requirements of advertising disclosure laws.

Our experience at Naxisweb demonstrates that small influencers and brands will face severe consequences when they do not reveal their compensated relationships. Naxisweb consulted an e-commerce brand that teamed up with a few lifestyle influencers for product promotions. A complaint reached the advertising authority because one of the influencers neglected to label their advertisement with “ad” and failed to provide adequate disclosure. The platform issued legal orders to the influencer along with the brand, which led to account suspension, causing harm to their holiday sales performance.

A failure to disclose your paid partnership breaks more than industry laws because it destroys consumer trust, which leads to immediate damage to your brand reputation. Transparency became an absolute requirement after regulatory authorities started paying close attention to AI-produced and affiliate content because both legal and ethical obligations now demand it.

Pankaj Kumar, Founder, Naxisweb

Be Cautious When Stating Facts About Others

Be extremely cautious when posting statements of fact about individuals or organizations, especially if those statements are negative and could potentially harm their reputation or livelihood. While expressing opinions is generally protected, stating false information presented as fact can quickly lead to claims of defamation (libel if written, slander if spoken, but online written posts fall under libel). The key is distinguishing between subjective opinion (“I didn’t like the service here, it was slow”) and stating something as a fact that isn’t true (“This business is stealing from its customers” or “That person committed [specific crime]”).

A common real-life example involves a negative review or post about a local business. Imagine someone has a bad experience at a restaurant and posts on Facebook, “This restaurant has rats in the kitchen! I saw one!” if they did not actually see a rat. This is stating a false fact. The restaurant, if they can prove the statement is false (e.g., through health inspection records, staff testimony) and that it caused them financial harm (e.g., loss of customers, reduced revenue), could sue the individual for defamation. That’s potentially a massive financial lawsuit for posting a negative review!

David Holt, Healthcare/Business Attorney, Holt Law

Understand Defamation Laws Before Posting

One legal precaution everyone should take on social media is to be very clear on what defamation laws are before posting something. It’s easy to be fooled by how quickly a frank comment can escalate into a costly lawsuit if someone feels it’s hurting their reputation.

I have seen businesses brought before courts because they’ve posted unverified customer claims on Facebook which all turned out to be false or exaggerated. Knowing these boundaries not only protects your brand legally but also helps build long-term trust with your audience.

Callum Gracie, Founder, Otto Media

Keep Social Media Clean for Immigration Purposes

If you’re applying for a U.S. visa or immigration benefit, be more mindful of the kind of content you’re posting and engaging with. Right now, at the U.S. borders, immigration officers are checking social media more than before. Some people have had their visa applications denied because of things they posted online, even if it was a long time ago. So, it’s really important to keep your social media clean and honest to avoid trouble when dealing with immigration.

If they see anything that looks bad or suspicious, like support for violence or bad behavior, it can cause problems with your visa or entry.

Adam Dayan, Founder, Consumer Law Group, LLC

Obtain Permission Before Sharing Others’ Content

The one and only legal caution I always counsel individuals is: If you didn’t create it, don’t share it–except if you are 100 percent sure you have permission to reuse it. And yes, this includes the “haha cat” meme that you found on Pinterest.

I worked with one small business owner who employed a generic “inspirational quote” picture they Googled to post on their business Instagram account. No harm, no foul, right? Wrong. They were slammed two weeks later with a nice little bill from the copyright owner. Let’s assume the aspiration to “dream big” cost them a nightmare-inducing £800.

Moral of the story: use social media like a dinner party–bring your own contribution or ask first before using someone else’s. Otherwise, you could be paying for that cheerful handshake stock photo… and nobody wants that on their bill.

Kris Flank, CEO, LunarLinks

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