Athletes competing at the London Olympics will be allowed to blog and use Twitter, but must operate within International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines.
The Olympic Charter bans political demonstrations, so the social media guidelines reflect this. Similarly, athletes cannot write for commercial purposes. Any breach could lead to the accreditation of a person or organisation being withdrawn.
Still photographs are also permitted, unlike in Beijing ni 2008, but these shots cannot be sold. Video from inside the venues cannot be broadcast, although video diaries and the like, recorded elsewhere, are perfectly acceptable.
The Olympics symbol cannot be used and references to anything being ‘Olympic’ must be factual. The IOC will also have to approve the use of any domain names featuring the word ‘Olympic’ or ‘Olympics’.
There have been various cases where sportspeople have found themselves in trouble as a result of the use of Twitter. Often, it has involved criticism of senior figures within their sport. This is a major reason why so many sporting organisations are so wary of the popular microblogging platform.
