Does a Legal Disclaimer on Twitter Really Work?
You may see many people on Twitter with a legal disclaimer in their bio that says something like: These views are mine and not that of my employer.
People do this in the interest of protecting their company from any legal ramifications resulting from a bad tweet (defamation etc).
But does this really work and does it protect your business from an individual employees poor judgement?
Short answer, No.
We are now starting to see legal cases around the world and in Australia where companies have been sued due to inappropriate employee behaviour on Twitter despite such legal disclaimers.
Some points to note:
- Is your Twitter username your company name?
- Do you have your company web address on your Twitter profile?
- Are you constantly tweeting about your companies news and activities?
All of these actions ultimately associate your Twitter account with your company, and therefore potentially passes across such liability.
In my view, such disclaimers are generally pointless – however it seems with many government organisations it may be part of their social media policy that such disclaimers are made.
