Bloggers beware! The IOC is on patrol.
With the Sochi Olympics well underway, it’s only natural that many of us social media junkies have one eye glued to the Games and the other eye glued to our networks. And we have reason – for the first time in history Canada was actually number one in the Olympic medal count.
There’s just one problem, Big Brother is watching… sorry we mean the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is watching and they’ve put together this year’s list of Social Media, Blogging and Internet Guidelines.
On a side note – we’re not hating on Sochi (we’ll leave that to #SochiProblems). Social media rules were also in place at the London Summer Olympics in 2012.
Here are some of the limitations that really stood out to us:
You can’t post videos or audio of the Olympic events or any other activities taking place in the Olympic Venues.
“Participants and Other Accredited Persons cannot post any video and/or audio of the events, competitions or any other activities which occur at Olympic Venues (including the Olympic Villages). Such video and/or audio must only be taken for personal use and in particular must not be uploaded and/or shared to a posting, blog or tweet on any social media platforms, or to a website.”
You can’t use the Olympic Symbol in your posts.
“Participants and other Accredited Persons must not use the Olympic Symbol on their postings, blogs or tweets on any social media platforms or on any websites.”
You can’t talk smack about the Olympics in your posts.
“Postings, blogs and tweets should at all times conform to the Olympic spirit and fundamental principles of Olympism as contained in the Olympic Charter, be dignified and in good taste, and should not be discriminatory, offensive, hateful, defamatory or otherwise illegal and shall not contain vulgar or obscene words or images.”
You have to write like you would in your diary.
“Postings, blogs or tweets must be in a first-person, diary-type format. Participants and Other Accredited Persons must not assume the role of a journalist, reporter or any other media capacity, or disclose any information which is confidential or private in relation to any other person or organization.”
You can find the full do’s and don’ts in the link below. Now let’s see if anyone will actually follows these rules.
