What you share could get you fired, or worse

The advent of the social media era has afforded us the opportunity to express ourselves in new and exciting ways – but there are pitfalls for the unwary that can have lasting implications.

When posting online, many people believe that they are protected by the right to freedom of speech.

Defamation laws in South Africa can be a little tricky and freedom of speech ends when it infringes on another’s right to dignity or privacy. The contention that ‘I have a right to say what I like’ is not a defence. Anything posted online is considered ‘published’ and is not the same as expressing your opinion in private.

‘Naming and shaming’ is particularly risky as it can infringe on someone’s right to privacy and can amount to harassment or defamation.

Michelle Kruger of Kruger Attorneys told The Courier that when it comes to naming and shaming, you’re walking on thin ice.

“The two main elements that make something defamatory are that it must be untrue and it must be published,” she said.

The crux of the matter is how information is shared on a public forum. For example: you see a car parked in the sun with a dog locked inside and you take a photograph including the number plate and share it on social media – are you letting yourself in for trouble?

“Only if you name someone directly without evidence,” says Kruger.

In other words it’s technically OK to share the picture with the car’s number plate visible – as you have physical evidence that what you’re sharing is true. However, if you name the owner of the car you are defaming him/her as you have no actual proof that they were driving the car or responsible for having left the dog in the car.

Another example is bullying – both physical and online – which draws a lot of criticism and many people demand that the bullies be named. If the bully is under the age of 18, they are a minor and minors are protected by law – even the bullies.

In this case it doesn’t matter how true the allegations are, if you name a minor on social media you are breaking the law.

Be careful, warns Kruger, of talking on social media about your boss, spouse, ex, neighbour etc. in a negative way and certainly don’t bring children into it! Even if the identity of people is kept anonymous you can still fall foul of the law if they can be identified by their relationship to you.

Be very careful too with nude pictures or videos. If South Africans have learnt anything from the Margaret van Wyk saga it’s that things can spiral out of control in a matter of hours.

Yes it can be fun and feel naughty to send those pics to your significant other, or to make a spicy video with him/her – but try to imagine how you would feel if the whole world could see and share those images.

Cloud-storage functions on many devices nowadays mean that you might not even be aware that your pictures have been saved online, and one little virus/hacker is all it takes for the company’s security protocols to fail and your private content could be splashed all over the internet.

This one may seem obvious – but do not badmouth your employers online.

Employers are well within their rights to dismiss you even if what you say is on your personal, private Facebook page.

They can do the same if you express racist, sexist etc sentiments online – even if what you are saying has nothing to do with your company or anyone in it. These sorts of sentiments may also amount to hate speech. This is a crime for which you can be prosecuted – remember the trouble that Penny Sparrow got herself into!

'You can't take something off the internet, it's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool' @DJFreshSA at 7.20 https://t.co/9E6FDTpMN9

— Emma Sadleir Berkowitz (@EmmaSadleir) September 7, 2016

What many people seem to forget as well is that discrimination against people’s religion is also considered hate speech, so think twice before you click share on that post mocking someone else’s faith.

Administrators can be also held liable for the comments of members of their page. As an admin you are deemed a publisher and have provided the platform for such comments and posts to be made.

So the next time you’re on social media remember that the world can see what you’re doing – and retaliation for a careless post can be swift and merciless.

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