Reposted from DLA Piper's Media & Sport Group bulletin

Editorial Team: Nick Fitzpatrick, Duncan Calow and Patrick Mitchell

The International Olympic Committee is encouraging athletes competing at the 2012 Games to use social media after issuing guidelines for its use.

The IOC encourages competitors to "post, blog and tweet their experiences" but warns that if rules are broken it can withdraw accreditation, shut down online operations and start legal proceedings for damages. The IOC guidelines also warn against athletes using social media platforms for commercial or advertising purposes and prohibits sharing videos filmed at Olympic venues, although still photographs will be permitted.

The IOC issued the guidelines in order to pre-empt the problems that occurred at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The IOC said: "Unlike in Vancouver, where the rules were adapted to fit changed circumstances, the rules in force in London have been properly codified."

The IOC recommends that postings, blogs or tweets should be in a first-person, diary-type format and should not be in a journalistic style. Further, all content should "be dignified and in good taste, and not contain vulgar or obscene words or images".

Athletes will not be permitted to use the official Olympic symbol, and any reference to the word "Olympic" must be factual and "not associated with any third party or any third party's products or services".

The guidelines can be viewed on the IOC website here.