Social media brings many opportunities for organizations such as various possibilities of sharing content rapidly across different platforms and tailored for their target-audience. However, there are some challenges arising as well. It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain an overview of the legal issues, such as intellectual property rights, personality rights, and data privacy. This thesis addresses the legal requirements based on Swiss law that apply when using images in social media and provides recommendations how organizations can ensure to fulfill these requirements.

The information to answer the research questions was gathered from an extensive literature research conducted in libraries and online databases including English and German literature. Additionally, qualitative interviews and informal conversations with experts from various departments within the client’s organization have been conducted. Together with an extensive review of the relevant aspects of the Swiss law and consultation of various websites of the Swiss Government, an overall understanding of the current legal situation in Switzerland was established.

The analysis of the literature demonstrates that social media and image rights is a heavily researched topic. Social media has been identified as both, an opportunity and risk for international organizations. The corporate communications department has to establish an appropriate social media strategy in order to maximize the opportunities and minimize the risks. Especially with regards to image rights it is important for an international organization to identify the applicable legal requirements and ensure compliance with them. After researching the legal situation in Switzerland in more depth, it was identified that Swiss law is well applicable to recent technological developments, such as social media, because there is always the basic principle of good faith and the establishments of contacts do not require extensive formalities. The recommendations include suggestions for the simplification of the consent collection when using a person’s image and the successful establishment of the organizational environment and culture where social media is seen as a professional communication tool.