steps to a legally compliant Facebook presence

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1. Imprint
Just like other websites, Facebook pages are also subject to an imprint requirement, as stipulated in Section 5 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG) . A company's Facebook page clearly falls under this regulation, as it is operated neither for private nor personal purposes. Quite the opposite: it is generally intended to increase the company's awareness and thus its revenue.

Service providers must therefore provide the following information for commercial, paid telemedia in a way that is easily recognizable, immediately accessible and constantly available:

Name and address
Options for quick electronic contact
the commercial, association, partnership or cooperative register in which you are registered
Your registration number
for AGs, KGaA's and GmbH's: information about the winding-up or liquidation
for audiovisual media service providers: indication of the Member State in which bulgaria phone number data you are deemed to be established and the competent regulatory and supervisory authorities
if applicable, information on the responsible supervisory authority
if applicable, the name of the chamber if you belong to one
if applicable, your VAT identification number
Particular attention should be paid to the text "(...) easily recognizable, immediately accessible (...)." The Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that an imprint is easily accessible if it requires only two clicks. To meet this requirement, there are two options for a Facebook imprint:

The imprint can be found under "Info".
On the Info/Imprint subpage there is a link that leads to the imprint on the company’s website.
You can find the Legal Notice section under Page Settings - Page Info - Legal Notice.

If the imprint is linked from the company website, it is essential to ensure that the name of the website operator matches that of the Facebook page. It is recommended to state in the website imprint that this also applies to the Facebook page.

The mobile version of a Facebook page can also pose a particular stumbling block, as the imprint is often not displayed correctly. Therefore, it's essential to ensure that the Facebook imprint appears correctly not only on the desktop version, but also on the mobile version.

2. Competitions and promotions
A Facebook contest is subject not only to general laws but also to Facebook's guidelines. These guidelines must also be strictly adhered to. Facebook has established numerous rules for contests and promotions:

Facebook features such as commenting, liking and private messaging may be used to participate in a promotion or competition.
Encouraging participants to tag photos, share messages, or use hashtags to participate in a competition is prohibited. Tagging an image is only permitted if the person in question is visible in the image.
Every Facebook contest must include a Facebook disclaimer.
When announcing the winners, care must be taken to comply with all data protection regulations.
Organizers of a contest or promotion act at their own risk and are not endorsed by Facebook. Violations of Facebook's own guidelines may, in the worst case, result in the page being blocked.

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3. Photos and videos
The following applies to all photos, graphics, and videos used for your own Facebook presence: They are subject to applicable copyright law. If the Facebook page operator does not own the copyright, they may not use the images, graphics, and videos without permission. Different regulations apply depending on the source of the image material:

Self-made images : Self-made photos, graphics, and videos may be used under Section 12 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) , provided their content does not violate Facebook's guidelines. However, this can also become problematic if people are recognizable in the photos and videos. This is when the right to one's own image comes into play. This states that everyone has the right to decide for themselves whether and in what context their images are published. Section 22 of the German Art Copyright Act states : "Portraits may only be distributed or publicly displayed with the consent of the person depicted. In case of doubt, consent is deemed to have been given if the person depicted received remuneration for having their picture taken. (...) However , Sections 23 and 24 of the German Art Copyright Act contain exceptions to this rule. For example, images of people who appear only as accessories to a landscape or other location, as well as images of meetings and similar events in which the people participated, may be published without the required consent. This only applies, however, as long as the legitimate interests of the people depicted or their relatives, if the people in question have already died, are not violated. The law also makes an exception for contemporary figures who are in the public eye. However, according to the European Court of Human Rights, in cases of doubt, the Art Copyright Act must be weighed against general personality rights. Particularly important for companies: If employees are visible in the self-made photos, their consent is only deemed to have been given as long as their employment relationship is still in effect. If the images are to be used for the Facebook page beyond the term of their employment, the employees must give their separate consent.