Socially Aware

April 16, 2018 - First Amendment, Marketing, Copyright, Defamation, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Revenge porn victim awarded $6.4M; the discoverability of photos posted to Facebook; can users be blocked from government officials’ social media accounts?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Based on copyright infringement, emotional distress and other claims, a federal district court in California awarded $6.4 million to a victim of revenge porn, the posting of explicit material without the subject’s consent. The judgment is believed to be one of the largest awards
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March 12, 2018 - First Amendment, Protected Speech, Privacy, Online Contracts, Copyright, Defamation, Compliance, IP, Litigation
Social Links: Inline link to tweet with photo could constitute copyright infringement; proposed California legislation could restrict website operators’ efforts to have minors consent to terms of use
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In a decision that has generated considerable controversy, a federal court in New York has held that the popular practice of embedding tweets into websites and blogs can result in copyright infringement. Plaintiff Justin Goldman had taken a photo of NFL quarterback Tom Brady,
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December 20, 2017 - First Amendment, Artificial Intelligence, Cyberbullying, Disappearing Content, UK, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Free Speech
Social Links: Twitter’s tougher anti-hate-speech policy; tech-industry-friendlier version of bill to narrow the §230 safe harbor; 2017’s top posts
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In an effort to deter hate groups from tweeting sanitized versions of their messages, Twitter has began considering account holders’ off platform behavior when the platform evaluates whether potentially harmful tweets should be removed and account holders should be suspended or permanently banned. In
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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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August 04, 2017 - First Amendment, European Union, Influencer Marketing, Antitrust, Defamation, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Can media companies be liable for their talents’ social media posts?; a trade group for social influencers; a potentially dangerous Snapchat update
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A defamation suit brought by one reality television star against another—and naming Discovery Communications as a defendant—could determine to what extent (if any) media companies may be held responsible for what their talent posts on social media. In a move characterized as setting legal
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June 23, 2017 - First Amendment, UK, Copyright, Free Speech
Social Links: SCOTUS strikes down law banning sex offenders from social media, denies cert in “dancing baby” case; Germany may require ID of status updates posted by “bots”
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a North Carolina law that the state has used to prosecute more than 1,000 sex offenders for posting on social media is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in what
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June 12, 2017 - First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Copyright, Employment Law, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Court disallows firing over Facebook page rant; Ether threatens Bitcoin’s reign as top digital currency; NBA slam dunks social media marketing
By: Aaron P. Rubin
One year since agreeing with the European Commission to remove hate speech within 24 hours of receiving a complaint about it, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are removing flagged content an average of 59% of the time , the EC reports. The U.S. Court
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April 11, 2017 - First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Privacy, Free Speech
Social Links: Twitter sues U.S. government to protect account holder’s ID; Minn. court orders Google to disclose users who searched crime victim’s name; Facebook targets revenge porn
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Twitter is suing the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to void a summons demanding records that would identify the creator of an anti-Trump Twitter account. Facebook has joined the fight against the nonconsensual dissemination of sexually explicit photos online—content known as “revenge
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March 07, 2017 - First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Right To Be Forgotten, Ethics, Free Speech
Social Links: YouTube reaches major milestone; Google tries to ferret out hate speech; justices consider constitutionality of barring social media access
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Google unveiled a new tool designed to combat toxic speech online by assessing the language commenters use, as opposed to the ideas they express. Is a state law banning sex offenders from social media unconstitutional? Based on their comments during oral arguments in Packingham
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November 22, 2016 - First Amendment, E-Commerce, Cyberbullying, UK, Free Speech, Litigation, Wearable Computers
Social Links: IMDb sues over right to post actors’ ages; Facebook tests jobs feature; Pinterest adopts “tried it” button
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has filed suit to overturn a law that requires the popular entertainment website to remove the ages or birth dates of people in the entertainment industry upon request. Vine might not be history after all. Twitter users posted more than
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Topic Archives: First Amendment

Social Links: Revenge porn victim awarded $6.4M; the discoverability of photos posted to Facebook; can users be blocked from government officials’ social media accounts?

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Inline link to tweet with photo could constitute copyright infringement; proposed California legislation could restrict website operators’ efforts to have minors consent to terms of use

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter’s tougher anti-hate-speech policy; tech-industry-friendlier version of bill to narrow the §230 safe harbor; 2017’s top posts

By: Aaron P. Rubin

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

Social Links: Can media companies be liable for their talents’ social media posts?; a trade group for social influencers; a potentially dangerous Snapchat update

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: SCOTUS strikes down law banning sex offenders from social media, denies cert in “dancing baby” case; Germany may require ID of status updates posted by “bots”

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Court disallows firing over Facebook page rant; Ether threatens Bitcoin’s reign as top digital currency; NBA slam dunks social media marketing

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter sues U.S. government to protect account holder’s ID; Minn. court orders Google to disclose users who searched crime victim’s name; Facebook targets revenge porn

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: YouTube reaches major milestone; Google tries to ferret out hate speech; justices consider constitutionality of barring social media access

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: IMDb sues over right to post actors’ ages; Facebook tests jobs feature; Pinterest adopts “tried it” button

By: Aaron P. Rubin