Welcome to Socially Aware

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

August 26, 2016 - Advertising, Endorsement Guides, FTC, Marketing, Privacy, Labor Law, Employment Law, Free Speech, Mobile, Litigation
Social Links: Google penalizes sites with pop-up ads; proposed Federal legislation to criminalize revenge porn; ad industry group questions Kardashians’ social media posts
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Google is cracking down on mobile pop-up ads by knocking down the search-result position of websites that use them. The National Labor Relations Board decided a social media policy that Chipotle had in place for its employees violates federal labor law. A group of
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August 24, 2016 - Defamation, Online Reviews, Section 230 Safe Harbor
Controversial California Court Decision Significantly Narrows a Crucial Liability Safe Harbor for Website Operators
A recent California court decision involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is creating considerable concern among social media companies and other website operators. As we’ve discussed in past blog posts, CDA Section 230 has played an essential role in the growth
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August 24, 2016 - E-Commerce, Protected Speech, Terms of Use, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Right To Be Forgotten, Infographic, Mobile
Now Available: The August Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here. In this issue of Socially Aware , our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media, we discuss the impact online trolls are having on social media marketing;
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August 19, 2016 - Advertising, First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Disappearing Content, Marketing, Litigation
Social Links: Twitter offers anti-harassment tools; Pinterest takes on video ads; P&G changes its social strategy
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Twitter took steps to remedy its harassment problem. In addition, over the last six months, Twitter suspended 235,000 accounts that promoted terrorism. The Washington Post is using language-generation technology to automatically produce stories on the Olympics and the election. Video ads are going to
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August 12, 2016 - Advertising, Endorsement Guides, Data Security, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Free Speech, Mobile, Compliance, Litigation, Online Endorsements
Social Links: Facebook’s anti-ad-blocking software; LinkedIn’s “scraper” lawsuit; FTC’s upcoming crackdown on social influencers
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Facebook introduced technology that disables ad blockers used by people who visit the platform via desktop computers, but Adblock Plus has already foiled the platform’s efforts , at least for now. A look at Twitter’s 10-year failure to stop harassment. Are mobile apps killing
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August 10, 2016 - DMCA, Terms of Use, Copyright, IP
Commercializing User-Generated Content: Five Risk Reduction Strategies
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
We’re in the midst of a seismic shift in how companies interact with user-generated content (UGC). For years, companies were happy simply to host UGC on their websites, blogs and social media pages and reap the resulting boost to their traffic numbers. And U.S.
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August 07, 2016 - Privacy, Litigation
Ninth Circuit Case Demonstrates That the Social Media Platform, Not the User, Is in Control
By: Aaron P. Rubin
We have written before about website operators’ use of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to combat data scraping. We have also noted a number of recent cases in which courts held that social media platforms, rather than the users of those
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July 31, 2016 - Advertising, Digital Content, Disappearing Content, Marketing, Mobile
Social Links: Twitter’s tough quarter; Yelp warns users about litigious dentist; Pinterest battles Snapchat
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Instagram now allows celebrities to block trolls. While Facebook reached new highs last quarter, Twitter continued to stumble. Will adding more live video content or allowing users to create Snapchat-like collage custom emojis over photos help Twitter regain its footing? Tips for fixing your
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July 29, 2016 - Privacy, Mobile, Litigation
First Circuit Issues Potentially Significant Ruling on Federal Video Privacy Statute’s Application to Mobile Apps
The First Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Yershov v. Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. may carry important implications for mobile app providers seeking to navigate federal privacy laws—in particular, the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (“VPPA”). Although Yershov is not the
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July 22, 2016 - First Amendment, Protected Speech, Live streaming, Cyberbullying, Disappearing Content, Privacy, Free Speech, Mobile, Litigation
Social Links: Twitter’s troll problem; Snapchat fat-shamer risks prosecution; a federal anti-revenge-porn law?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Facebook Messenger joins the elite “one billion monthly users” club just four years after its release as a standalone app. A Canadian judge ordered a couple convicted of child neglect to post to all their social media accounts his decision describing their crime. Leslie
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Welcome to Socially Aware

Social Links: Google penalizes sites with pop-up ads; proposed Federal legislation to criminalize revenge porn; ad industry group questions Kardashians’ social media posts

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Controversial California Court Decision Significantly Narrows a Crucial Liability Safe Harbor for Website Operators

Now Available: The August Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter offers anti-harassment tools; Pinterest takes on video ads; P&G changes its social strategy

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Facebook’s anti-ad-blocking software; LinkedIn’s “scraper” lawsuit; FTC’s upcoming crackdown on social influencers

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Commercializing User-Generated Content: Five Risk Reduction Strategies

By: Anthony M. Ramirez

Ninth Circuit Case Demonstrates That the Social Media Platform, Not the User, Is in Control

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter’s tough quarter; Yelp warns users about litigious dentist; Pinterest battles Snapchat

By: Aaron P. Rubin

First Circuit Issues Potentially Significant Ruling on Federal Video Privacy Statute’s Application to Mobile Apps

Social Links: Twitter’s troll problem; Snapchat fat-shamer risks prosecution; a federal anti-revenge-porn law?

By: Aaron P. Rubin