The issue of the ‘offensive’ picture of Michelle Obama appearing in Google search results poses an interesting dilemma: who decides what is right and wrong on the internet? Libel laws are notoriously difficult to apply across borders and the source of any defamatory material cannot often be difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, as the old joke goes ‘where there’s a will…… there’s usually a greedy lawyer trying to get in on the act’!
Having defamatory material posted onto your web presence can lead to very significant liabilities being incurred by your brand. Our websites constitute ‘publishing’ just as much as publications or marketing material – but on a global scale. So called Web Governance is becoming a hot topic as unwary brands permit content generators to post all manner of ill-advised, incorrect or just plain illegal content with only manual editorial control to save them. The automation of content governance is clearly going to be an important compliance issue for all website owners and I think we, as marketing professionals, need to get a grip on the compliance of our web content using tools like Vamosa Check & Fix, before we get our backsides tanned by the lawyers.
Posted by Geraint
