There are two things that business can learn from this

1. If you have somebody running your social media accounts, you are liable for whatever is posted on them.

All it takes is a disgruntled PA (personal assistant) or disgruntled employee at a third party who might post something on your social media account that might be liable, racist, sexist, inflammatory, it's your social media account you are liable.

In terms of anything in business you have to make a risk assessment. 

This is on the back of Linkedin terms and conditions, see clause 8.2 in the user agreement, here. Which states that you cannot use third parties to run your account or risk having your account blocked.  Forever.

Our advice is that you get a company to come in and teach you what you need to know about social media, just like you do with employees over such things as diversity, health and safety.  We also have a qualification backed by the Institute of professional sales which provides a business with the proof that a person know what they are doing on social media.  If you are doing a risk assessment, I would say that people need to be certified in such a way. 

2. You can throw your mobile phone in the North sea to try and cover things up, the court will not look well on you for doing this.

The background

For those that don't know, two footballers (soccer) wives when to court, Coleen Rooney, wife of Wayne Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, wife of Jamie Vardy. 

Coleen found that somebody was leeking stories to the press, so she set up a sting where she reduced her personal Instagram account to one person, which was Rebekah Vardy.  Coleen then put photos out, some of the stories were fake to see if they would make the newspapers and they did.

Coleen called Rebekah out on social media, Rebekah took Coleen to court for defamation of character.

Part of Rebekah's defence was that her agent, Caroline Watt who had access to the social media account.

Mrs Justice Steyn says Rooney's original allegation that Vardy leaked stories to the newspaper is "substantially true"

Mrs Justice Steyn also said, "in my judgment, it is likely that Ms Vardy deliberately deleted her WhatsApp chat with Ms Watt, and that Ms Watt deliberately dropped her phone in the sea."