The danger of being an admin of a social media group.
If you create a social media group and become the admin of that group you are actually responsible for what happens in the group. So if you want to bulletproof your social media and you’re running a group, you need to remember that you need to keep an eye on the things that your members are posting. If they end up posting something really terrible, something which might be illegal or defamatory, you have to keep an eye on that. There have been cases in the past where social media admins have been held responsible, financially responsible, in defamation suits.
One of the cases that comes to mind is where a person who was on the receiving end of some really nasty posts asked the admins of the group to please remove the posts. The admins of the group said, “we’re not gonna get involved because we don’t think that it’s our place to decide if what somebody said about you, or about your business services is true or not. So we’re not gonna get involved and you need to sort it out with the other person.” The judge’s held that by not removing a post that brought the person into disrepute, the administrators of that site were also guilty of defamation.
So if you are an admin of a social media group, make sure that you keep an eye on what’s happening in the group, some people are really cautious and they will make sure they approve every single post. In my group, Biz Boosters, I’m not that pedantic because I know the people that are in my group, they have to apply to get into my group and I’ve never had a problem. But I would act if somebody sent me an objection or was really concerned about what was being posted about them. So as administrators, you can be legally liable for what happens in your group, so take care. My name is Cathryn Warburton, and I am the Legal Lioness.
