What you say online could come back to bite you
Some South Africans have been fired for what they have said about their employers online
IF you won’t say it to someone’s face, don’t say it on social media.
This is the sentiment of social media lawyers who are urging South Africans to pay closer heed to what they write on their social media pages.
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The advice applies to both the airing of your views about people in general, and about the company for which you work.
South African companies are updating their social media policies at an increasing pace to ensure employees do not bring company names into disrepute during or after working hours.
Some South Africans have even been fired for what they have said online.
According to Helene Eloff, Lawyer for Caxton Local Media, ‘Each case is judged on its own merits, but a person could easily end up without a job after making a racist, sexist or otherwise unacceptable post that places their employer or company in disrepute.’
This comes in the wake of a landmark judgement in which a South African law firm successfully defended a lawsuit against Facebook, after the social media giant refused to remove a post that the law firm deemed ‘racist and defamatory’.
The Middelburg High Court last week ruled in favour of Pretoria law firm Cawood Attorneys in connection with a racist and defamatory post made against the firm by a disgruntled South African businesswoman.
After Miss NS Mthimunye posted claims against Cawood Attorneys which called the firm’s honesty and integrity into question, the firm requested that Facebook remove the post.
Mthimunye’s business was reportedly battling before Covid-19 lockdown, and she applied for business rescue through The Rescue Company, to which one of Cawood Attorneys’ directors is affiliated. According to Cawood Attorneys, Mthimunye’s comments claimed that the firm had stolen Covid-19 funds.
The firm initially requested Mthimunye to remove her defamatory post, after which she responded by identifying the business rescue director by name and claiming, among other things, that the firm was ‘a racist firm that takes advantage of a black female in distress’.
The firm requested Facebook to remove the comments, but the tech giant responded by saying it would not remove the post as the comments did not go against community standards.
‘This case was extremely important to us, as significant allegations against our firm had been made, suggesting that we had engaged in criminal activity, were untrustworthy and, in addition, racist and discriminatory against smaller companies,’ said Werner Cawood, a senior partner at the firm.
Mthimunye was ordered by the court to immediately remove all false, defamatory, derogatory and racist posts made against the applicants, and to refrain from further posts on any platform, as well as ordering her to pay all costs.
Contrary to the belief of many social media users, a person cannot hide behind their profile, but will be held responsible and accountable for posts that are racist, defamatory or abusive towards another person, and can even place the user’s employment in jeopardy.
Social media users also face the risk of being criminally charged with crimen injuria (a willful injury to someone’s dignity, caused by the use of obscene or racially offensive language or gestures).
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