This afternoon I visited the offices of Tempero - Europe’s largest supplier of social media moderation and management services.

The team I met with do a great job in providing 24/7 specialist moderation for message boards, blogs, commenting, social networking sites and user generated content (UGC) projects.

One of the things I like about Tempero is that they stay ahead of the game in knowing what the legal requirements are when it comes to engaging with your audiences online. The whole area is a potential legal minefield – often with serious repercussions – particularly when dealing with minors.

Tempero is a member of the Home office Task Force for Child Protection on the Internet and every member of their team is police checked and fully trained to be up to speed with new legal guidelines and best practices.

Here is a report that they have made available for anybody looking to clarify where they stand legally when engaging with user generated content as part of a campaign or ongoing communications strategy. It#s actually really insightful and provides a good primer for practitioners within the industry.

User-generated content and the law

Dominic Sparkes, MD of Tempero thinks that more brands need to be aware of their responsibilities when going online:

“For some brands it’s a case of cutting corners, but most are simply struggling to understand their responsibilities and requirements under confusing and outdated laws.  This guide aims to break down some barriers and distil the wealth of available information into one easy to comprehend suite of usefulness!”