Because more small- and medium-size companies are incorporatingsocial media into their businesses, insurance professionals believetheir clients' risk exposure will grow in the coming year,according to a survey released by specialty-insurer Torus.

In a survey of 105 insurance professionals conducted during theNov. 7-9 Professional Liability Underwriting Society conference inChicago, 58% say they expect to see an increase in requests formedia-liability policies to mitigate social-media risk. Of thatnumber, 16% believe the increase will be significant. Thirty-sixpercent say they don't think there will be a change in the numberof requests, while 6% believe requests will decrease.

Christopher Cooper, assistant vice president, media liabilitypractice leader, for Torus, says the exposures for small- andmedium-size companies are the same as they are for large companies.The difference is that small- and medium-size companies do not havethe support and resources to train individuals, monitor postingsand have legal advice at the ready.

Litigation over inappropriate postings is growing, says Cooper.He cites an example last year when a fashion designer was offendedby a posting aimed at him by the singer Courtney Love. The designersued and large legal fees resulted.

“It's the off-the-cuff comments and knee-jerk reactions that cancause damage,” says Cooper.

Among those surveyed, 33% say their primary concern is dataleakage. Cooper explained this covers the dissemination of companysecrets and company information that could pose problems withSecurities and Exchange Commission regulations.

Twenty-seven percent are concerned about lack of control overpotentially damaging content posted by employees. Principally,Cooper says, this covers making comments that can damage acompany's brand. For example, an employee inadvertently postingpolitical commentary on a company's Twitter account instead of theemployee's personal account.

Other areas of concern:

• 19% cite personal injury exposure (defamation, libel,slander).
• 13% cite copyright and or trademark infringement.
• 8% cite lack of explicit risk management policies.

Cooper says that one exposure that was not in the survey thatshould be of concern is use of celebrity images without theindividual's permission.

“Mistakes happen,” says Cooper, despite training by legal andmarketing teams. Ideally, he says, access to a company's Twitterand Facebook accounts should be password protected and limited to afew employees. There should be formal rules about the text to beposted and established protocols to quickly take down postings. Healso says an attorney should be on call to deal with social-mediaissues.

Unfortunately, he admits, most small- and medium-size companieslack the resources to put all these programs in place. He adds that“there is more technology out there for more instances to makemistakes.”

Today, he says, almost every company is a publisher and open toliability. And most insureds are not aware of the exposures theycan face.

This article was originally posted at PropertyCasualty360.com,a sister site of Credit Union Times.