NAIC Panel Gets Social Media Update

"Regulations can be difficult to comply with," and, "without controls in place, the use of Social Media may be prohibited," the speakers said.

Any controls that are put in place may be too burdensome, the speakers said.

For consumers, challenges include knowing whether the information they are getting is accurate and what other social media users will do with the information that consumers provide, the speakers said.

Laws and regulations pertaining to privacy, defamation, unfair trade practices, intellectual property, and communications and advertising all could apply to insurance social media communications, but insurance regulators may not have the staff to police social media networks, or even access to the networks that they do know about, the speakers said.

The speakers noted that IMSA and AARP, Washington, have co-hosted a summit on social networking that brought IMSA member company compliance personnel together with federal regulators, state insurance regulators, and others.