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Whether a claim involves “bodily injury” or “property damage” is a threshold issue for coverage under Coverage A of the standard comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy and homeowners policy. Social media-related claims that allege pure emotional distress, without corresponding physical manifestations, or that allege damage to intangible property, such as intellectual property rights, may not fall within the insuring agreements of these policies. Social media claims often allege intentional conduct, if not intentional harm, which raises the threshold issue of whether the claim alleges an “occurrence” such that coverage is triggered. 

To the extent a social media claim falls within the policies’ insuring agreements, the next issue is whether the policies contain exclusions that might apply. Exclusions for expected or intended injury, employer’s liability, and electronic data may limit coverage for social media claims. Likewise, exclusions in homeowners policies for “bodily injury” or “property damage” arising from a home business, professional services, or physical or mental abuse may apply to common social media claims. 

Social media-related claims also implicate Coverage B “personal and advertising injury” under the CGL policy, which covers certain enumerated offenses. Claims such as defamation, invasion of privacy, and false or deceptive advertising may constitute one of these offenses, as may certain intellectual property claims, to the extent that they relate to the insured’s advertisement. To the extent a social media claim falls within the enumerated offenses covered under Coverage B, there are several standard exclusions that may apply to limit or otherwise exclude coverage. These include exclusions for personal and advertising injury arising out of knowing violations of the rights of another; material published with knowledge of falsity; material published prior to the policy period; quality or performance of goods; wrong description of prices; and patent, trademark, or trade secret infringement; insured’s in the media business; electronic chatrooms; and unauthorized use of another’s name or product.