In a recent CUInsight article, in collaboration with EmpowerFi founder Hilary Reed, social media attorney for credit unions, Ethan Wall, explores the importance of developing clear, well-documented social media policies as the first step toward ensuring compliance. These policies should define acceptable content, outline employee roles, and establish procedures for responding to member interactions, providing a structured approach for credit unions to safely engage on social media.

Training is another critical component. Employees must be educated on the credit union’s social media policies, including the importance of adhering to advertising laws, protecting member privacy, and maintaining the institution’s reputation. Regular training sessions can help credit union staff stay updated on new regulations and emerging risks.

Another key aspect of social media compliance is conducting regular audits. These audits help identify potential issues before they escalate, ensuring that all content aligns with regulatory requirements. This proactive approach can mitigate risks such as data breaches, false advertising claims, or reputation damage.

Legal considerations are crucial for credit unions on social media. Understanding the intricacies of advertising regulations, especially around disclosures, endorsements, and promotions, is essential. Equally important is the protection of member privacy. Credit unions must be diligent in how they collect, store, and share member data on social platforms to ensure privacy and security are maintained at all times.

Reputation management is another critical area. Negative comments or misleading posts can quickly spiral out of control, so it’s vital to have a proactive strategy for monitoring and responding to social media activity. A prompt and thoughtful response can help prevent minor issues from growing into major crises.

While these guidelines provide a foundational approach for credit unions to leverage social media safely—fostering strong member relationships and enhancing their brand—they are just a starting point.

The collaborative CUInsight article emphasizes the value of consulting with a social media lawyer who specializes in credit unions to develop a robust social media risk management program. By partnering with a legal expert, credit unions can ensure comprehensive compliance with industry regulations and effectively mitigate potential risks in their social media activities. This proactive approach provides tailored guidance and essential safeguards, helping credit unions maintain a strong, compliant, and secure online presence while engaging effectively with their members.

The Social Media Law Firm is committed to helping credit unions achieve their goals through effective and compliant social media strategies. Schedule a Free Consultation today.

Credit unions increasingly rely on social media to connect with members and promote their services, but staying compliant with ever-evolving regulations can be challenging. This partnership aims to bridge the gap, providing credit unions with the tools and legal guidance needed to ensure their social media activities are both effective and compliant.

EmpowerFi’s CEO, Hilary Reed, emphasized the importance of this alliance in addressing the unique challenges faced by credit unions in the digital age. “Our goal is to empower credit unions to engage with their members confidently and compliantly,” Reed said. “By partnering with The Social Media Law Firm, we can offer a comprehensive solution that combines marketing innovation with legal assurance.”

Social Media attorney for credit unions, Ethan Wall, is dedicated to helping financial institutions navigate the legalities of social media. Wall expressed excitement about the partnership, noting that it would provide credit unions with unparalleled support in achieving their marketing and compliance goals. “Together, we can help credit unions maximize their social media potential while minimizing legal risks,” Wall stated.

This collaboration will offer credit unions a range of services, including social media risk assessments, compliance training, and ongoing legal support, ensuring they can maintain a strong and compliant online presence. [Read the full announcement]

Credit unions looking to leverage the power of social media to connect with customers, enhance brand reputation, and drive business growth while mitigating legal risks and ensuring regulatory adherence are invited to take advantage of a free consultation. The Social Media Law Firm is committed to helping credit unions achieve their goals through effective and compliant social media strategies. Schedule a Free Consultation today.

In today’s world, the hijinks of high schoolers are taken quite seriously. Gone are the days of stealing mascots or having ill will toward an instructor. Instead, students make TikTok videos or tweets that sometimes threaten other students or even hint at school shootings. A new directive, the “It’s No Joke Campaign,” has been initiated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to raise awareness about the social media risks students are taking.

While law enforcement understands that not every post on social media is an actual threat, the police are being more proactive in spotting these types of risks to prevent serious harm to students and communities. To understand how issues of social media law applies to online speech, CBS caught up with social media lawyer Ethan Wall to get his perspective.

Ethan explained that while no one wants the government to restrict someone’s freedom of speech, we would prefer that higher scrutiny be given to online speech deals with threats of violence in schools. This is particularly important in the wake of Columbine and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, where a new reality has formed that has shaken students, parents and the government. Just last year in Florida, more than 800 juveniles faced judges for threatening schools and other related offenses. These include postings on bringing a gun to school, sneaking in a bomb and warning classmates not to attend school the next day. Examples the DJJ says are increasing.

Ethan believes that not every post constitutes a threat under current social media law, but there is a gray area that sometimes requires the police to arrest first and ask questions later. In doing so, the court system can sort out the legal distinctions on what is real threats and what is an expression of free speech amongst students. In doing so, law enforcement can be more proactive to avoid mass shootings even if it interferes with someone’s ability to post social media content about guns.

By taking more action against social media threats, the police are teaching students a lesson that their words and actions can have legal consequences. Threats are now being taken seriously, and students must think twice before posting things that may be seen as a threat – because we value the lives of our children more than we do the complete freedom of expression.

According to Ethan, of course we should! But the fact is, we choose to use Facebook, and that means we’re consenting to abide by its website terms and conditions. And if you look at Facebook’s Ts & Cs, you’ll see that we DO own the data that we post. This comes at a price. Even though we own our own information, we’re giving Facebook license to use this data.

The choice is up to you. Do you want to use this social media platform to connect with family, share with friends, and get the latest news knowing that your information really isn’t yours anymore, or do you want to create your own social network where you can control everything, but may be limited the amount of people you can connect to? There’s a big tradeoff, and it’s an important question that each of us should ask ourselves. As a social media attorney, I know what my answer is, and if you send me a friend request, you’ll see that I’m willing to abide by Facebook’s rules in order to stay connected to my network and reach more people. The real question is, what will you do?

As I said when I sat down with Sue Fennessy and guest host Matthew Cooke on PoliticKING with Larry King, in my opinion as a social media lawyer, the answer is not yet. While the Internet may be considered a public utility, especially because utility companies provide Internet access, being a Facebook user is totally optional. You can choose not to be on Facebook without any repercussions, but it’s much harder to choose not to have electricity or water flowing into your house.

This doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any form of regulation. As Facebook becomes closer and closer to becoming a utility, there needs to be regulations in place to make sure this social platform doesn’t operate like the Wild West. After all, Facebook is a place where a lot of people get the majority of their news, and Facebook decides what can be shared and what will be censored. So there definitely needs to be more transparency about its internal processes, and perhaps even regulations, so we can keep using Facebook, the most widely used website in existence, as a reliable source for information.

If Facebook becomes regulated as a utility, what will that look like? The process would have to be intense and take many issues into account, like will users own their data? How will we maintain social media compliance? If posts are censored or banned, does that become a First Amendment issue or is it still an internal issue at Facebook? What are the social media legal risks? Will there have to be different Facebooks for different countries, and if you’re using Facebook outside of the United States but are a U.S. citizen or resident, will you have to abide by the rules of your country or the country you’re in?

As time goes by, this issue is going to come up more and more. And while the government would love to crack down on Facebook and open it up to strict regulations, do they have the right to impose that on a private company? We’ll have to wait and see about that. Meanwhile, with all of these changes and conversations happening, it’s an exciting time to be a social media law firm.

This all stems from allegations from the President that conservatives are being censored on social media. Whether that’s true or not depends on who you ask. There is, however, a bigger issue, and it is that Facebook is deciding on its own what should be censored and what should not.

Let’s take a deeper look at how Facebook’s censorship can affect us as individuals and as a society. Facebook is entirely responsible for monitoring posts for social media compliance, and its policies change frequently, so how is the average person to know what you can and can’t post.

According to Facebook, its Community Standards are “designed to be comprehensive” and will “continue to develop over time.” That sounds great, but in reality, it leaves all of its users in a gray area. Let’s say I create a post sharing a news article from a reliable source, but someone flags it as false news because they disagree with the content. We all know fake news is a real issue, but can Facebook remove my post because someone didn’t like my opinion on the subject? Some people say that this is a First Amendment issue, but Facebook isn’t a government-run entity, and it’s legally within its rights to remove any of my content from the platform as I’ve agreed to its website terms and conditions when I joined. The question then becomes, are we willing to continue to use a platform that openly censors our content? Only time will tell.

Commercial Crime International – October 2016

“Ethan Wall, a Florida-based social media risk lawyer, stressed to CCI that there is a risk a cloud server could be damaged, or a device connected to the cloud stolen or hacked and result in compromised information. As a result, even cloud-using companies need to have both proactive and detective safety measures, as well as a reactive contingency plan in case their cloud service is compromised, he recommends.

* * *

Wall recommends companies using IT and holding significant volumes of data purchase cyber security liability insurance, saying that “there are many legal issues that can arise in the event of a server breach if there is confidential or customer information contained on those servers. If there is a breach, there are certain types of insurance coverage that can be purchased to guard against those types of risks.”

* * *

In terms of reactive safety measures, Wall says that it is good practice to assume a worst case scenario and devise a quick and calculated response plan to hacks or virus attacks, whether they emerge from a cloud or in-house servers.

“There should be procedures in place as part of a company’s cloud based policy that say employees need to notify human resource or IT professionals immediately on first belief information has been compromised. If a device that’s connected to the cloud has been stolen, for example, human resources or your IT person should be able to remotely shut down that particular device or limit access from that person’s username and password to the cloud. If hacked, authorities should be notified and there should be a plan to deploy certain cyber defense strategies to contain the breach,” he said.

“From a proactive standpoint, if a company owns their own servers, it is best practice to have the servers stored in two different locations, so if, for any reason, the server in one location is compromised or damaged, the company is not offline. It’s also a good idea for companies to consider storing their own servers in bunkers,” he advises.

Attorney and social media expert Ethan Wall has opened the doors on a Miami-based law firm dedicated exclusively to providing counsel on social media legal issues. Firms of all sizes have realized the need for social media-related legal counsel and many have incorporated it into their practice, but Wall’s firm is laying claim to the first instance of a firm dedicated solely to the risks associated with the social media revolution.

“What fascinates me most about social media legal issues is that there are new social platforms being developed all the time—at a rate so much faster than the law can adapt,” Wall told Legaltech News. “So, unlike contract law, that has been around since the dawn of time, I get to work on cutting edge legal issues that no one has addressed before. Let’s face it, when our founding fathers drafted our constitution, Snapchat didn’t exist. Thomas Jefferson certainly wasn’t live–tweeting the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And because of this, I am fascinated by how legal constructs, such as the right to privacy apply to these constantly evolving technologies. The business community needs a law firm who understands how to protect and grow their business in today’s socially connected environment.”

Prior to founding The Social Media Law Firm, Wall spent seven years practicing social media, Internet and intellectual property law at Richman Greer. In addition, he has authored four books on the effects of social media on the law, and taught social media law courses at the University of Miami, Florida International University, and Nova Southeastern University.

Wall has also established Social Media Law and Order, a company dedicated to educating lawyers, law firms, and legal marketers about how to use social media in the practice of law—even extending his reach to education on generating new clients through social media while complying with advertising ethics rules. Through Social Media Law and Order, Wall delivers keynote speeches, CLE presentations, training workshops, and offers consults on all subjects relating to social media and the law.

“At the outset, I help my clients understand that just because social media is a relatively new medium, doesn’t make it an unregulated medium. It’s not the wild west,” said Wall. “The same federal labor laws that apply to employee conversations inside a break room apply equally to conversation amongst employees on someone’s Facebook timeline. So, I help my clients accomplish their goals by applying existing laws to new technologies”

One thing for certain, social media is not going away. Wall understands that certain platforms may come and go (see Friendster and, to a certain extent, MySpace), but as more people amongst various generations continue to connect on social media—there will be a greater need to serve and protect clients in this emerging landscape. “As social media grows and expands, so too will The Social Media Law Firm to provide solutions to social media legal issues amongst new industries such as health care technology, social financial services, social marketing, etc. And to be at the forefront in this legal field for when newer technologies that we cannot even dream of eventually emerge.”

The future is looking bright for Wall and his endeavor. He is already planning to expand and looks to educate the next generation of on how social media affects, not only the law, but the practice of law and their ethical responsibilities. “Social Media Law and Order will continue to educate new and experienced attorneys alike on how to utilize these technologies responsibly and effectively in their practice through traditional and technology-based training in the classroom, boardroom and the courtroom—assuming they still exist in 10 years.”

 This story was first published by Legaltech News on December 11, 2015.

The push and pull of social media monitoring is a difficult one to manage. As an HR manager, your relationship with an employee or a prospective employee’s social media profile must have the right amount of intimacy and distance. But how do you find the balance between being a laid back, carefree manager and an overbearing social media monitor?

Inhabiting that middle ground between social media stalker and stranger will help to make the HR-employee relationship a smooth one. However, efforts to move there start before someone becomes your employee.

The Facebook Stalker

Between Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and countless other channels, it’s possible to find someone’s entire life story on the internet—even pieces they might not want to share. Jobvite’s 2014 Social Recruiting Survey found that 93% of hiring managers will review a candidate’s social media profile before making a hiring decision. Going through a person’s social media is as intimate as going through their medicine cabinet, and that means there needs to be some sort of boundaries. Still, social media searches are important for informing any hiring manager’s decision—you want to know if your prospective candidate spends his nights posting sexist rants on Twitter before you extend an offer.

Ethan Wall, author and founder of The Social Media Law Firm, suggests delegating social media searching to someone other than the hiring manager. “You separate the person who is doing the search from the person who is making the hiring decision,” Wall said. Have someone besides the hiring manager review social media profiles. This way, the social media searcher can alert the manager to any inappropriate posts, and a level of bias in the recruiting process is removed. Split the balancing act between two people instead of leaving one person to juggle being completely enveloped in the profile and totally unbiased at the same time.

What goes in a social media report on a candidate and what is left out is a matter of company policy, and one that always adheres to the discrimination laws outlined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Train your hiring personnel on what the laws are, what to search or what should not be in the report,” Wall said. There is no point to having a separate searcher if he or she doesn’t know what to leave out of the report.

The report system also guarantees a fair search process for everyone. “You have to be consistent,” Wall said. “You can’t search old people but not young, you can’t search women but not men.” Separate searchers and a consistent policy guarantee just the right amount of HR involvement in a prospective hire’s internet life.

Of course, there’s opportunity for crossing the line into too much social media snooping. During the hiring process, asking for a candidate’s password certainly crosses the line. Requiring a candidate’s username and password—which is illegal in ten states—could have consequences other than fines.

During the interview process, a candidate develops an image of what working at your company will feel like. Any information about what kind of a manager you are is gold to them. So, what impression will be built if before being hired the person is required to hand over all their personal details?

“Sometimes it’s about weighing the legal risks against the practical reward,” Wall said. “If I had a boss that signed a contract that said he could walk into my home, open my drawers, and look at whatever he wants, I’d say no.” A request like that would leave the candidate with an image of a hostile workplace where the manager has no trust in his employees. This level of invasion of privacy could easily turn an employee off of your company. To be on the safe side, leave the password alone.

Beware the Ban

Once hired, good social media management for your employees will lead to a positive reputation of your company’s work style. The last thing you want is job seekers thinking your office has a hostile environment. The key to a balanced social media culture is a balanced policy.

Balance means saying no to bans. Completely cutting off employees from Facebook or Twitter leads to hostility. “If you say ‘no this’ and ‘no this,’” NYU Stern professor David Purdy said, “you’re going to find an organization that tells everyone what they should do and eventually employees are going to disengage.” An environment where people feel they don’t have any freedom is not one where people will be motivated and productive.

In fact, Facebook and other social media outlets can make your employees more productive. 46% of people surveyed online by PEW Research feel more productive because of internet, email, and cell phones. “People need to waste time,” Purdy said. “Whether they’re on Instagram looking at pictures of their cats or on Pinterest, the point is that people need to breathe.” A quick break from long hours of brain power will revitalize an employee.

Social Communication

And the benefits of social media keep coming. With an internal social media news feed, you can bust the doors of communication wide open. Scott Heydt, CFO of VaynerMedia, can’t stop raving about how an in-office news feed can engage employees, plus keep a culture constantly communicating. “It gives me full view of everything that’s happening in the company,” Heydt said. “That sits on my desk all day long and it’s taken over as a place for employees to collaborate and connect.”

In-office social media allows employees to talk through issues together while simultaneously sending concerns up the ranks to higher managers. But, if your company has poor communication already, these platforms won’t automatically fix it. Employees must feel encouraged and safe while speaking their minds or they will stay quiet.

A quiet workforce makes for bad work—and bad leadership. “Leadership is a conversation,” Purdy said. “Even the Pope is listening to the flock now.” A back and forth between employees and managers will make the office more comfortable, the company goals clearer, and your end products better.

Tell Them Like It Is

Social media obviously has its benefits, but it also has some risk. To keep social media from taking over the office, it’s necessary to be hands-on in certain places. Drafting and implementing a social media policy is an easy way to stay on top of the workforce’s social media use—and research shows policies could be more common. A report by Protiviti in 2013 found that only 57% of employees surveyed received a social media policy.

The first step in having an effective social media policy is the drafting stage. It can be easy: All you have to do is follow your ABCs. “A is accuracy, B is brevity, and C is clarity,” Wall said.

An accurate policy is all about compliance. “You’ve got to make sure that your policies are reviewed by someone who knows social media and the law to make sure they comply with federal labor laws,” Wall said.

The National Labor Relations Act protects the employee’s right to participate in “concerted activity.” This means they are allowed to discuss things like unsafe conditions at work or unfair pay—and you can’t ban those comments from social media.
B is for brevity, as in keep it simple. “Meaning use plain English,” Wall said. “Don’t use fancy legalese terms, because not everyone will understand it and they’re not going to follow the policy.” If your policy can be understood by an eighth grader, your employees are guaranteed to get it, and misunderstandings leading to social media crises will be avoided.

The last item on your checklist is clarity. Use plenty of specific examples throughout the document to make the rules as clear as possible. “If you have a policy that says you can’t make negative comments about the company, that might be a problem because it’s too broad,” Wall said. But, specify what those negative comments are—racism, sexual harassment, or other harmful statements—and the confusion disappears.

The same way communication strengthens your business, it is the key to a successful social media policy. Consulting with your employees while drafting the policy will make it better suited for your specific workforce and built to avoid backlash. Employees will let you know what rules will bog them down and which will make for a cooperative workplace. Plus, it will help foster a workforce that feels valued and included.

Furthermore, to be completely sure everyone is on the same page with social media, offer trainings for employees that outline the do’s and don’ts of online behavior—especially the don’ts. Wall runs trainings such as these. “There is no privacy on social media,” he said. His presentations begin with an abundance of employee slip-ups to show his trainees what to avoid.

Social media is a risky tool that, if managed with the right attitude, can be one of HR’s biggest assets. A quick scroll through Instagram will revitalize an employee, and an online conversation between employees and managers will foster a trusting community. Add a training, and online slip-ups become a thing of the past. Social media can help bring out the best in a workforce, and it can be easy. Just let them be social.
This story was first published by Namely on December 29, 2015

That’s been good advice since people began communicating with language.

The most modern evolution — be careful what you post on the Internet — was confirmed last week by the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The court on Wednesday upheld a decision by the Circuit Court in Broward County that awarded attorney Ann-Marie Giustibelli $350,000.

After Giustibelli represented Copia Blake in a divorce case against Peter Birzon, the couple posted critical reviews of the attorney on the Internet.

They claimed Giustibelli misrepresented her fees, charging four times the amount agreed to, and that she altered documents to support the increase in fees.

The couple also wrote in their review the attorney had no integrity, would “say one thing and do another” and that Guistibelli “absolutely perpetuates the horrible image of attorneys who are only out for the money and themselves.”

Guistibelli sued Blake and Birzon for libel and breach of contract and was awarded $350,000 in punitive damages in Broward County Circuit Court.

During the trial, both Blake and Birzon admitted posting the reviews and also admitted Guistibelli had not charged Blake more than what was quoted in their agreement.

The couple appealed, contending their Internet reviews were statements of opinion and therefore protected by the First Amendment and not actionable as defamation.

In the opinion from a three-judge panel, 4th District Court of Appeal Chief Judge Cory Ciklin wrote that Blake and Birzon made false statements online and the First Amendment does not confer immunity from committing libel.

In reference to the allegations posted on the Internet that Guistibelli falsely represented her fee and falsified the contract, Ciklin wrote, in part, “these are factual allegations and the evidence showed they were false.”

After the appeal was filed, Birzon filed a notice that he and Guistibelli had settled the matter and he was withdrawing his appeal, but Blake did not join in the notice.

In his opinion, Ciklin said the court would not have dismissed the appeal even if she had withdrawn.

“We affirm in all respects, but this issue merits discussion as it presents a scenario that will likely recur, and the public will benefit from an opinion on the matter,” Ciklin wrote.

Ethan Wall is an attorney in Miami who has for eight years specialized in social media and Internet law. He has conducted seminars on the topic for The Florida Bar.

He said the appellate court’s ruling in the Guistibelli case could be considered a “landmark” decision because it addresses a shift in culture that will continue to affect the legal profession.

“When our forefathers drafted the Constitution, there was no Internet or Facebook,” Wall said. “This is breaking new ground.”

He said the ruling affirms that while access to the Internet allows a person to exercise their right to free speech on a global scale, it doesn’t negate the law.

“What someone says or does on the Internet can have serious legal implications. If someone posts a statement that’s libel, it’s actionable,” said Wall.

Jacksonville attorney John Phillips said his law office has been reviewed on the Internet more than 100 times and the vast majority were positive comments.

“For the most part, people who take time to review have a strong feeling — good or bad,” he said.

What concerns Phillips is when a review includes incorrect statements or when it’s posted by someone who wasn’t a client. In those cases, an attorney has a way to possibly have a review removed from the Web.

“We’ve been able to take them down after we approached the website and told them it was libelous,” Phillips said.

Attorney Tad Delegal said he’s been inaccurately reviewed and he’s represented clients, including some lawyers, who have had defamation issues regarding what was posted about them on the Internet.

He agreed there is recourse.

“Some Internet companies will take down a review if the facts are incorrect,” said Delegal. “I’ve had pretty good luck.”

Wall recommends that no response is usually the best response to a negative review posted on the Internet. Adding traffic to the website and the review may make it more likely to show up when a prospective client is looking for comments about attorneys.

“If an attorney comments, it creates a larger digital footprint and that makes it more likely to show up in a Web search,” said Wall.

He said his advice to attorneys who are negatively reviewed on the Internet and wish to respond is to limit their comment to pointing out they disagree with the review from their former client and they always strive to provide the highest level of legal care.

“Technology has created new opportunities for attorneys, but also new challenges,” said Wall.

Phillips said he realizes his work being reviewed from time to time has become part of his practice, as it has for all attorneys.

“Internet reviews are a fact of life,” he said.

Delegal agreed.

“The Internet is not going away and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.

This story was first published by The Jax Daily Record on January 11, 2016