#11 - How Should Senior In-House Counsel Respond to Uncontrolled Social Media Postings: Part 1
Out 25th April rather than 22nd April due to Easter and Passover holidays
This week’s issue of Practical Counsel addresses a controversial topic, head-on.
When is a social media posting problematic? What is the correct leadership response of senior in-house counsel (GCs, CLOs etc) to potentially controversial social media posts, including those on LinkedIn?
The War in Ukraine has sparked an unprecedented level of social media posts, both on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. The vast majority of these posts have been strongly pro-Ukraine, and sharply critical of the Russian invasion.
To be clear, the unequivocal view of Practical Counsel is that the moral issues raised by the Russian invasion are 100% clear-cut. This is an unjustified act of aggression by Russia, and awful crimes of war are being committed by the Russian aggressors.
The initial attempt by Norton Rose Fulbright to restrict its employees’ freedom to post was roundly condemned, and senior leadership at NRF backed down rapidly, given the barrage of criticism, online and elsewhere.
Across the vast majority of organisations, employees of companies large and small are, it seems, being allowed to post whatever they choose regarding the situation in Ukraine, however virulent their criticism of the invasion and its consequences.
The focus on issue #11 of Practical Counsel (and the next few issues) is the following: does giving employees a free pass to post whatever they choose in the morally clear-cut situation of the present Ukrainian war set up future risks when it comes to future conflicts or future situations which are less clear-cut?
Should senior in-house lawyers be flagging up risks to the senior management of their businesses? Or for that matter should they be suggesting red lines, or urging on senior management the enforcement of existing social media policies?
In the first of several issues concentrating on this topic (issue #11, out Monday 25th April), Ukrainian GC Iryna Kravtsova gives her view, that in the particular circumstances of the conflict in Ukraine, the injustice of the war means that free speech rights trump all other considerations.
In the following issue (issue #12, Friday 29th April) renowned media law pioneer and founder of Olswang (now part of CMS), Simon Olswang, will give his view, that management is failing to curb social media postings and that this is a very dangerous precedent.
In issue #13, another expert will respond.
Please read each of these issues and please join in the debate.
(Note: the next issue, issue #11 is coming out on a Monday - 25th April - rather than the usual Friday publication date, due to the Easter and Passover holidays).