What is the legal situation regarding direct messages on LinkedIn?
As a general rule, unsolicited promotional direct messages via social media are legally risky and, in many cases, inadmissible.
Under Section 7 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), advertising via electronic mail without the recipient's prior express consent is generally considered an unreasonable nuisance. The Higher Regional Court of Hamm ruled that this includes not only emails, SMS and MMS, but also messages sent through social media services such as LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook or WhatsApp.
What matters is not whether the message is phrased politely, but whether it serves to promote sales. As soon as a direct message is used to initiate an offer, a service, a conversation or a business enquiry, it may be considered advertising.
There is also a more recent ruling that is important for LinkedIn: Düsseldorf Local Court, judgment of 20 November 2025, case no. 23 C 120/25. It ruled that connecting on LinkedIn or other social networks does not constitute consent to advertising. A simple connection is therefore not sufficient as an opt-in.
In short: Without prior express consent, cold promotional outreach via social media should not take place. Publicly visible content such as posts or profile information must be distinguished from this.