Comments on: Compliance Crack Down on Social Media Coming?

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:06:51 +0000

Measures to ensure compliance? Employee compliance fine, but once it gets into the online space and information starts moving around, there is no control over what is shared and said. I am in agreement here with Matthew, it’s very difficult to put restrictions on a consumer.

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:56:55 +0000

Good points Matthew. You’re right, it is indeed a slippery slope that leads to weird 2nd Amendment issues. I think the FDA’s primary concern is the sharing tools deployed by Novartis. The company is actively asking consumers to market on behalf of the company. I would certainly hope that regulatory bodies ignore what people choose to share voluntarily. There should be no curbs or restrictions placed on the consumer’s right to say what they want, when they want and to whom they want.

By: Matthew Wehrly

Matthew Wehrly — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:05:56 +0000

Great article. There are some items that should induce pause from all individuals actively utilizing social media networks both personally and professionally. I find it somewhat difficult to understand how the FDA could hold an organization liable for content communicated by non-employees that is not sanctioned by the organization.

The example used in the article (The agency, concerned people might tweet something like, “This drug saved my mom’s life with no side effects”) depicts a very slippery slope in terms of regulatory issues, enforcement and potential penalties for organizations and individuals alike. Not only would regulations forbidding individuals from posting/sharing such information infringe on their freedom of speech, they would have no way to enforce it. It begs the question; if I tweeted, “You should opt-in for overdraft protection @financialinstitution, it will save you money!” how would the organization have any control over that? And, how could regulation stop me from expressing my personal experience using the service (as a consumer, would I really need to provide regulatory jargon…)?

I believe oversight is upon us, however, the justification the FDA has utilized in the letter is not practical reasoning nor enforceable. Maybe I am just being difficult or missing the point the FDA is trying to make completely, but who are they to dictate that the potential message an uninformed, non associated individual is the responsibility of the organization/manufacturer?

Just my two cents…

Thanks again for the great read and comments!

By: James Cella

James Cella — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:25:38 +0000

The crackdown is definitely coming! I think that a lot of companies are sensing that as well. I get calls everyday from companies about this subject and they are starting to get uncomfortable about all the social networking that is going on without any compliance oversight.

I think we are beyond the days of banning social networking because of compliance concerns however. Marketing departments have learned what social media can offer and they are hooked! There’s no going back in their eyes.

james

By: Nick H

Nick H — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:13:34 +0000

I think it’s near-impossible to not see this coming.

I’ve observed dozens of “don’t forget to opt-in for overdraft protection!” tweets in the last few months, all in violation of TISA.

Shame, shame…

By: CU Water Cooler » Blog Archive » CU Water Cooler 8/31

CU Water Cooler » Blog Archive » CU Water Cooler 8/31 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:42:44 +0000

[...] • Compliance crack down on social media coming? [...]

By: James Flores

James Flores — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:54:58 +0000

Similar to this is a recent suit filed against Facebook. Two teens are claiming the social networking site sold their names and images to advertisers without parental permission. This was done through Facebook’s “Like” feature that allows members to note that they like an advertised service or product. This violates a California law that requires parental consent for children to make commercial endorsements. Not sure if there’s a case here or not, but we’re following it pretty closely.