Introduction
The use of social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace and Twitter, has grown enormously in recent years, and throws up particular challenges for employers. For example, could their use by employees infringe confidentiality obligations? Is the company's intellectual property adequately protected? How can the employer protect its reputation? Can employees be disciplined or terminated for misuse or overuse of social media? Can employers be held liable for discrimination or defamation damages if their employees say things that they should not? How does the employer monitor its employees, and are there privacy concerns in doing so?