How to avoid getting cancelled on social media

In this episode of #HighlySoughtAfter, I had a chat with Fong Weili, a well-known lawyer here in Singapore. Wei Li represents and advises influencers, public figures and companies on online issues like privacy, defamation and how they can avoid getting into trouble on social media. He’s also the managing director at Forward Legal and an adjunct faculty at Singapore Management University’s School of Law.

If you’re a content creator or entrepreneur building your personal brand on social media or worry that you’re breaking some law every time you post content on social media, read on as Weili delves into the top three social media related issues that you may get you in legal trouble: copyrights infringement, defamation and cancel culture.

Underpinning the top three social media related issues that you might face online is copyright infringement. The moment you create something, for example a painting a picture, copyright latches onto that work. Therefore, if someone takes an image of this painting and then tries to use it for his or her own commercial gain, they are then infringing upon your copyright, and you have a legal case against them. Similarly, this means that if you draw out a Disney character, you cannot use it commercially without permission from Disney.

Furthermore, when you repost another person's creative work (i.e., a song on Spotify, or a snippet of a Disney movie) to social media, one of the factors that determines whether or not that is legal is whether you're using that person's work for a personal purpose or for commercial gain. Another factor is how much of that person's work you used (i.e., there's a difference between re-posting 15 seconds and 1 hour), amongst others like if there was an option to pay a reasonable price to use it.

It’s a common misconception that crediting the source, if using other people’s content, will save you from getting into legal trouble. In order to get full protection or immunity, you're best getting permission to use content from the original copyright owner. Although, if you cannot identify the owner - the best you can do is to credit the original owner's work.

In avoiding trouble with slander and defamation online, you're best to stick to the truth where possible. You cannot be faulted for saying the truth (even if the truth is unpleasant). For example, if you're a food blogger, there's a difference between saying 'don't ever come back to this restaurant' vs. saying 'I would never come back here again'. Be prepared to substantiate claims you make online. If you can, you'll likely be fine.

Lastly, in dealing with cancel culture in today's social media age, the best thing you can do before posting is to run your content past your team and/or friends and seek their views and opinions on whether it will be appropriate and suitable for social media. This is not always an area where a lawyer’s advice is foolproof, as content can be legal however may still cause repercussions with viewers.

If you use the above principles as a guide when interacting and posting on social media, you’ll save yourself from many legal mistakes, and getting into legal trouble online.

If you enjoyed this article, I encourage you to check out my latest podcast episode with Fong Weili, a well-known internet and social media lawyer here in Singapore. It will help you to remain complaint and avoid making common mistakes on social media.

To listen to the full podcast, go to this link