Includes bibliographical references (pages 372-280) and index.

Introduction to social media and the law -- Human rights -- Defamation -- Communications act 2003 -- Malicious communications act 1988 -- Serious crime act 2007 -- Crime and disorder act 1998 -- Public order act 1986 -- Protection from harassment act 1997 -- Computer misuse act 1990 -- Contempt of court act 1981 -- Evidence and procedure -- Data protection and privacy -- Trading and advertising standards -- FCA regulated bodies -- Insurance.

"The Social Media Handbook explains how the existing laws of defamation and communications based offences apply to social media communications and explores the tactical considerations both claimants and defendants must be aware of when dealing with cases involving social media. Social media covers a number of different platforms that enable a user to interact and share information such as comments, photographs, videos and audio, publically or privately with other users online. The most well-known include LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook. While there are existing works covering the law of defamation and communications based offences, this is the first book to cover the specific issues highlighted by social media. This practical guide offers practitioners' innovative ways to handle claims using the existing law and working within the rules of the platform providers themselves. The author also explores the risks which social media may present in a manner which allows in house counsel and communications professionals determine what procedures, policies, specifications and standards must be adopted in organisations' internal governance and explains how to build regulatory frameworks to achieve compliance.This book will be of great use to legal practitioners specialising in communications or internet law, in house counsel, communications professionals, journalists, students of communications law and anyone who uses social media in their work"--