Legal Issues
Social software not only encourages openness of expression, but also sharing and reusing of data and resources from elsewhere. Inevitably, there will be tensions between encouraging openness and sharing, while also protecting data from unauthorised disclosure or exploitation.
Tebbutt (2007) sums up some of the qualms, "This (social software) sharing takes place at a personal level....which is hugely paradoxical and troubling for some organisations. They associate social computing with time-wasting, sedition, loss of power and control, and leakage to the outside world."
Quite apart from these organisational concerns, there are various legal issues which can arise from the use of social software. As the content is created and driven by the user, copyright is a major issue. For instance, when posting to a blog or a wiki, the user may incorporate material which belongs to a third party. If that party's permission has not been obtained, this could constitute copyright infringement. It should also be noted that, while social software embraces openness of expression, the defamation laws will still apply to such expression.
In both respects, inappropriate use of social software could expose the organisation to liability. If, for example, an organisation hosts a wiki to which users can post, it may be liable for any infringing content. Some organisations elect to moderate content in order to manage and mitigate this risk. While this does give a certain degree of control over the content which is posted, by carrying out this editorial function the organisation actually assumes responsibility for that content. By contrast, if it does not moderate, but instead operates a "Notice and Takedown" procedure, the organisation is less likely to incur liability for any unlawful content.
There are also issues of confidentiality and data security to consider. For instance, an organisation would not wish its employees to be blogging about a confidential project or disclosing commercially sensitive information. Some organisations are already aware of this risk. Indeed, the survey conducted by Netskills on behalf of JISC infoNet found that nearly 90% of respondents thought that matters related to confidentiality and security of data could be an obstacle to social software use. On a more positive note however, 57% thought such problems could be overcome.
The fact that legal issues may arise does not mean that organisations should refrain from using social software. Rather, it simply necessitates a greater awareness of the risks of using such tools and having appropriate procedures and protocols (for instance, an Acceptable Use Policy supported by a "Notice and Takedown" procedure) in place to manage those risks.
Further information on the legal issues (in particular, copyright) which can arise in BCE activities is available from the JISC Legal site. There is also a specific case study on the legal issues associated with blogs, wikis and social networking sites.
