Social Media
Social Media are – by meanwhile almost one billion users alone from Facebook – in the act of getting omnipresent. This has lead to an increasing commercialisation of Social Media, admittedly restricted by substantial legal uncertainties. These legal uncertainties mainly appear as a result of the new and judical not specifically regulated use of Social Media platforms. The consequences are numerous legal problems and disputes. This has recently been confirmed through numerous court decisions, but also through an analysis related to the Social Media performances of 100 of the top-selling austrian companies randomly realised by the e-center. According to this analysis, roughly 82% of all performances are illegal or legally problematic. As the corresponding legal position is similar Europe-wide, the numbers in other european countries should be similar and the developments forebode that significant legal uncertanities exist in the field of Social Media as well. As to the extensive and global legal uncertainties in coherence with the commercial use of Social Media , the e-center recommends an all-embracing legal strategy to prevent liability scenarios of commercial Social Media use.
