Compliance Concerns: From Content to Copyright

 

 

No one told you that becoming an author had so many rules to follow, did they? In today’s digital age, compliance concerns are an important part of maintaining your digital profiles and preventing any issues from arising.

 

Perhaps you’ve seen this, author: Every now and then an account will just mysteriously disappear. Refuses to show up in searches, saved posts from them are gone, and no trace of them remains even in a search engine. This usually means they broke community guidelines and were banned, disabled, or temporarily shut down.

 

Social media compliance boils down to adhering to legal and regulatory guidelines on digital platforms. At minimum, these include disclosure requirements, intellectual property rights, data privacy, advertising rules, and content moderation. Each platform will have slightly different rules, so sometimes your content must be tailored for each account you use.

 

Not following mandatory compliance can lead to major issues like your account getting banned, fines up to $51.744, or at the very worst, legal action. It is very important that you stay on top of what each platform lists in their compliance and regularly check back as these often change.

 

If you send out newsletters (which you should!) the biggest rule you must follow is the CAN-SPAM law which states that if someone unsubscribes from your content, you must remove them from the list. Many email list management platforms automatically do this, so make sure you have these settings enabled.

 

Data privacy is a big deal. At its core you: cannot send unsolicited messages, must notify users of the collection and storage of their data, and ensure their data is stored privately and not used for any other purposes. Most websites automatically have this as a pop-up when you first pull up the page. Make sure that your website is following these guidelines.

 

Intellectual property rights can lead to major headaches and potential lawsuits. Copyrighted material can be literally anything created by another person. If you repost a lot of content, reach out and gain permission before you post, and make sure you are crediting the original poster. Even memes can be copyrighted. Take the time to double check ownership rights on all content to minimize your risk, author.

 

Now, this all seems scary especially when we throw out terms like “mandatory compliance” and “lawsuit” but this is all part of creating and maintaining your digital footprint. When in doubt, reach out. Take things one step at a time and work on creating your own library of original content.