Social Media + EmpCo: Formulating Posts and Stories Correctly

Social media as a blind spot: Most compliance programmes focus on website content. But social media — Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X — is just as EmpCo-relevant. Verbraucherzentrale (German Consumer Advice Centre) are already actively scanning brand channels.

Risks per platform — Instagram: Stories are ephemeral but documentable (screenshot), Reels & Carousels. Hashtags such as #sustainable or #ecofriendly can be problematic. Captions with “climate neutral” are subject to warning letters.

LinkedIn: Corporate updates with sustainability claims, employee posts with brand liability, speaker bios at events.

TikTok: Influencer collaborations are particularly risky. Advertising labelling MUST be clearly separated from brand commitments.

X (formerly Twitter): Customer service tweets can have an advertising character. Reactions to other tweets are also relevant.

Influencer risks: The Bundesgerichtshof has clarified the advertising-disclosure duties of influencers (BGH, 9 September 2021, I ZR 126/20 and I ZR 90/20), and posts with a commercial character can fall under unfair-competition rules. Environmental claims made in influencer collaborations therefore carry real risk, so influencer contracts should include EmpCo compliance and posts with environmental claims should be pre-approved.

Substantiated vs. unsubstantiated on social media — examples to illustrate the substantiation requirement: a general claim such as “sustainable fashion” remains unsubstantiated without evidence, whereas a specified statement such as “GOTS-certified organic cotton” refers to a verifiable basis. Likewise, “climate neutral” is unsubstantiated without explanation, whereas “CO₂ per item since 2020: -42 %” substantiates the underlying fact. General terms such as “green” are inadmissible without evidence; generic hashtags such as #sustainable also convey an environmental claim and are subject to the same requirements.