Rio Olympics Social Media Guidelines

It seems that dubbing major sporting events the “largest social media event ever” is even trendier than the social networking platforms themselves, and Rio 2016 is no exception. All hype aside, the Rio Olympics haven’t reinvented the wheel, and seem to impose similar restrictions as their predecessors.

The IOC describes appropriate uses and prohibitions in their Social and Digital Media Guidelines. All accredited individuals (athletes, coaches, and officials) who are not accredited as media are allowed to “share their experience at the Games through internet or any other type of social and digital media, provided that it is done in a first-person, diary-type format”. Individuals posting must “conform to the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship” and “should be within the bounds of dignity and good taste”.

Those restrictions are similar to many corporate social media policies. But it gets more restrictive and allows accredited persons to share only “still” images to social and digital media taken within the Olympic venues. Audio or video taken in Olympic venues can’t be shared on social media without IOC consent. There are also “no picture areas”.

Restrictions exist for spectators pursuant to the Ticket Holder Policy (there are 19 pages of conditions attached to a spectator ticket) which says in part:

12.6.3 Ticket Holders may capture, record and/or transmit still images and/or data taken within venues including by sharing such still images and/or data on social media and the internet provided such capture, recording or transmission is made solely for personal, private, non-commercial and nonpromotional purposes.

12.6.4 Ticket Holders may capture, record and/or transmit audio or video taken from venues, solely for personal, private, non-commercial and non-promotional purposes, with the exclusion of licensing, broadcasting and/or publishing any such video and/or sound recordings including on social media and the internet.

Frankly, I don’t know what that last one means – it seems to give permission and take it away at the same time.

Many of the restrictions are well intentioned – for reasons such as athlete security and privacy. Much of it will be to satisfy mainstream media and sponsors that pay huge amounts of money for exclusive rights. But some of it seems unrealistic. It will be interesting to see how aggressively they will be enforced.

I wonder what the IOC will think about athletes and spectators playing Pokemon Go at Olympic venues?