Using some of Australia’s most controversial and unique litigation examples, media and government lawyers share how they manage the social media presences of their high-profile clients and advise legal teams on what they can do to mitigate the risks.
As a tool for communication and a forum to engage individuals in political and social debate, social media has become a useful tool for disseminating information and allowing high-profile government and media clients to build on their reputation. At the same time, it has brought with it heightened risks of reputation and litigation damage.
During the NSW Law Society’s 2021 Government Solicitors Conference, deputy secretary and general counsel at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Kate Boyd, said that along with the opportunities of social media is the “evolving risks that we as government lawyers need to be aware of”, including statutory liability.
“For individual employees, the use of social media to engage in political discussion and debate is fraught with uncertainty. In NSW, we have the government employment sector act, which establishes an ethical framework … capable of implementing the decisions of the government today,” Ms Boyd said.
A popular example of social media in government agencies going wrong is that of barrister and former public servant Michaela Banerji. In 2019, she lost a landmark free speech case in the High Court after it was found tweets she posted under a different handle were critical of the...
Read Full Story: https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/32426-how-legal-teams-can-manage-risk-and-reputation-on-social-media
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.