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.

October 06, 2015 - E-Commerce, Terms of Use
Three Steps to Help Ensure the Enforceability of Your Website’s Terms of Use
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Operators of social media platforms and other websites typically manage their risks by imposing terms of use or terms of service for the sites. As we previously wrote , websites must implement such terms properly to ensure that they are enforceable. Specifically, users must
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October 05, 2015 - Online Promotions, Marketing, Online Reviews, Compliance
How UK Brands That Use Vlogger Endorsements & Social Media for Marketing Can Stay on the Right Side of the Law
Vloggers have become the reality stars of our times. For an increasing number of social media users, what was once a hobby is now a lucrative career. You may be surprised to learn that Felix Kjellberg (aka “PewDiePie”), a 25-year-old Swedish comedian and the
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September 30, 2015 - Cyberbullying, Privacy, Ethics, Litigation
Status Updates: Court nixes VPPA claim; lawyer suspended over blog posts; Facebook ‘unfriending’ cited in bullying decision
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Tale of the tape. The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), which requires video service providers to destroy personally identifiable information after a specified time, doesn’t provide a private right of action for plaintiffs whose information was retained beyond that period. So held the U.S.
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September 16, 2015 - FTC, Online Promotions, Online Reviews, Compliance
FTC Continues Enforcing Ad Disclosure Obligations in New Media and Issues a Warning to Advertisers
By: Julie O'Neill
In December 2014, we noted that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) settlement with advertising firm Deutsch LA, Inc. was a clear signal to companies that advertise through social media that they need to comply with the disclosure requirements of Section 5 of the FTC
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September 08, 2015 - First Amendment, Litigation
Federal District Court Strikes Down Law That Bans Ballot Selfies
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire recently struck down on First Amendment grounds a 2014 amendment to New Hampshire Revised Statute 659:35 that made it illegal for New Hampshire voters to post pictures of their completed ballots to social media.
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August 31, 2015 - First Amendment, Terms of Use, Cyberbullying
The Top Social Media Platforms’ Efforts To Control Cyber-Harassment
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Social networking platforms have long faced the difficult task of balancing the desire to promote freedom of expression with the need to prevent abuse and harassment on their sites. One of social media’s greatest challenges is to make platforms safe enough so users are
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August 27, 2015 - First Amendment, Status Updates, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Defamation, Section 230 Safe Harbor
Status Updates: Appeals court upholds anti-cyberbullying law; better marketing through neural networks; restaurant owner turns the tables on Yelp critic
Positive I.D. The tech world recently took a giant step forward in the quest to create computers that accurately mimic human sensory and thought processes, thanks to Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The pair developed a program that
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August 26, 2015 - Marketing
“Notes” Update Shows Facebook’s Continued Efforts to Increase Already Impressive User Engagement
By: Aaron P. Rubin
As the number of social media platforms continues to grow, users’ online activity is becoming increasingly divided, requiring social media companies to prove to potential advertisers that they not only have a lot of registered users, but that those users are engaged and spending
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August 24, 2015 - E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Social Media E-Discovery: Are Your Facebook Posts Discoverable in Civil Litigation?
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Judge Richard J. Walsh began his opinion in Largent v. Reed with the following question: “What if the people in your life want to use your Facebook posts against you in a civil lawsuit?” With the explosive growth of social media, judges have had
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August 17, 2015 - E-Commerce, Terms of Use, Fraud
Federal District Court: “Browsewrap” Terms and Conditions Provide Sufficient Notice to Defeat False Advertising Class Action
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Websites sometimes present their terms of use (“TOU”) to users merely by including a link to those TOU on the website without requiring users to affirmatively accept the terms by, for example, checking a box or clicking an “I accept” button. As we have
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Welcome to Socially Aware

Three Steps to Help Ensure the Enforceability of Your Website’s Terms of Use

By: Aaron P. Rubin

How UK Brands That Use Vlogger Endorsements & Social Media for Marketing Can Stay on the Right Side of the Law

Status Updates: Court nixes VPPA claim; lawyer suspended over blog posts; Facebook ‘unfriending’ cited in bullying decision

By: Aaron P. Rubin

FTC Continues Enforcing Ad Disclosure Obligations in New Media and Issues a Warning to Advertisers

By: Julie O'Neill

Federal District Court Strikes Down Law That Bans Ballot Selfies

By: Aaron P. Rubin

The Top Social Media Platforms’ Efforts To Control Cyber-Harassment

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Status Updates: Appeals court upholds anti-cyberbullying law; better marketing through neural networks; restaurant owner turns the tables on Yelp critic

“Notes” Update Shows Facebook’s Continued Efforts to Increase Already Impressive User Engagement

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Media E-Discovery: Are Your Facebook Posts Discoverable in Civil Litigation?

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Federal District Court: “Browsewrap” Terms and Conditions Provide Sufficient Notice to Defeat False Advertising Class Action

By: Aaron P. Rubin