Socially Aware

October 19, 2020 - Advertising, FCC, Influencer Marketing, Discovery, Free Speech
Turkey’s new social media law; social media ad spend; Harvard Law School’s social media policy
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
In an attempt to shut down free speech online, Turkey enacted a law that requires social media platforms with more than a million daily users in Turkey to open an office there or assign a representative who is legally accountable to Turkish authorities. Among
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February 24, 2020 - Discovery, Litigation
Are Facebook Posts Discoverable? Application of the Forman Test in N.Y.
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
New York courts are increasingly ordering the production of social media posts in discovery, including personal messages and pictures, if they shed light on pending litigation. Nonetheless, courts remain cognizant of privacy concerns, requiring parties seeking social media discovery to avoid broad requests akin
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December 10, 2019 - E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Foreign Companies Can Use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Unmask Anonymous Internet Posters
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
A random Twitter account tags a Japanese company and badmouths it in a series of tweets. Because the tweets are tagged, a search of the company’s name on Twitter will display the tweets with the negative comments among the search results. Upset over the
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February 26, 2019 - Advertising, Discovery, Litigation
Social Links: Settlement declares fake “likes” illegal; Pinterest’s impending IPO; a bill to criminalize “social media extortion”
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In what is being described as “ the first settlement to deem such sales illegally deceptive ,” New York Attorney General Letitia James has entered into a settlement with a company that had been selling fake followers, likes and views on several social media platforms.
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January 09, 2018 - Copyright, Discovery, Litigation
Anonymous Internet Users Beware: New Presumption in Favor of Unmasking the Losing Anonymous Defendant
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Following a recent decision from the Sixth Circuit, anonymous bloggers and other Internet users who post third-party copyrighted material without authorization have cause for concern. They may be unable to preserve their anonymity. In Signature Management Team, LLC v. John Doe , the majority
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August 21, 2017 - First Amendment, Hacking, Discovery, Free Speech
Social Links: A seminal opinion on web scraping; Obama breaks Twitter record; court holds state’s subpoena law applies to digital communications
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In an opinion granting a preliminary injunction preventing LinkedIn from blocking a startup’s use of information in LinkedIn profiles accessible to the entire public, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California expressed doubts that a federal anti-hacking law—the Computer Fraud &
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January 11, 2016 - E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Go Fish: Do General Discovery Rules Apply to a Litigant’s Facebook Posts?
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
While discovery of social media information has been commonplace for some time, courts are still struggling with when such discovery should be allowed. While courts generally hold that normal discovery rules apply to social media discovery, at least one judge has identified—and railed against—emerging
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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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May 20, 2015 - Status Updates, Disappearing Content, E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Status Updates: Facebook Posts—Reliable Evidence?; Quora Post Costs Applicant a Job; a New Ephemeral Messaging App
Facebook: Fact or fiction? These days, courts are more and more frequently faced with disputes over whether, as part of the discovery process, a litigant should be entitled to view the opposing party’s social media posts. As we’ve discussed , some courts deciding physical
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May 18, 2015 - E-Discovery, Discovery, Litigation
Effort to Hide Facebook Evidence by Deactivating Account Ends Badly for Louisiana Man
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
As social media has become ubiquitous, courts are wrestling with more discovery disputes involving social media accounts. In a recent case, Crowe v. Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC , the plaintiff deactivated his Facebook account in an effort to be able to claim that
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Topic Archives: Discovery

Turkey’s new social media law; social media ad spend; Harvard Law School’s social media policy

By: Anthony M. Ramirez

Are Facebook Posts Discoverable? Application of the Forman Test in N.Y.

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Foreign Companies Can Use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Unmask Anonymous Internet Posters

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Social Links: Settlement declares fake “likes” illegal; Pinterest’s impending IPO; a bill to criminalize “social media extortion”

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Anonymous Internet Users Beware: New Presumption in Favor of Unmasking the Losing Anonymous Defendant

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Social Links: A seminal opinion on web scraping; Obama breaks Twitter record; court holds state’s subpoena law applies to digital communications

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Go Fish: Do General Discovery Rules Apply to a Litigant’s Facebook Posts?

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

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

By: J. Alexander Lawrence

Status Updates: Facebook Posts—Reliable Evidence?; Quora Post Costs Applicant a Job; a New Ephemeral Messaging App

Effort to Hide Facebook Evidence by Deactivating Account Ends Badly for Louisiana Man

By: J. Alexander Lawrence