Socially Aware

September 26, 2016 - Internet of Things, Data Security, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Online Reviews, Litigation
Social Links: Yelp’s Communications Decency Act claim; Twitter loosens its character limit; building a Snapchat audience
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The California Supreme Court agreed to hear Yelp’s case arguing that requiring the company to remove a one-star review of a law firm “creates a gaping hole” in the immunity that shields internet service providers from suits related to user-generated content. Images, videos and
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September 23, 2016 - Data Security, Privacy, Hacking, Litigation
Cybercrime and Victim Shaming
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Our Morrison & Foerster colleague and Socially Aware contributor Miriam Wugmeister has published a thought provoking and insightful op-ed piece in The Hill on how companies that are the targets of cyberattacks are too often treated as suspects, rather than victims, by regulators. In her op-ed,
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September 20, 2016 - Advertising, First Amendment, European Union, Live streaming, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Litigation
Social Links: Instagram’s “offensive comment” filter; Twitter’s TV app; YouTube’s “Community” feature
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Instagram now allows users to hide offensive comments posted to their feeds. Take that trolls! Soon you’ll be able to watch Twitter content like NFL Thursday Night Football on a Twitter app on Apple TV, Xbox One and Amazon Fire TV. “Ballot selfie” laws—laws
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September 08, 2016 - Mobile, Litigation
App Developer Not Liable Under TCPA For User-Initiated Texts
A recent decision out of the Northern District of California brings good news for developers of mobile apps that incorporate text messaging functions. Those functions may create the risk of claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which generally prohibits the delivery of a
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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 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 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 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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Topic Archives: Litigation

Social Links: Yelp’s Communications Decency Act claim; Twitter loosens its character limit; building a Snapchat audience

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Cybercrime and Victim Shaming

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Instagram’s “offensive comment” filter; Twitter’s TV app; YouTube’s “Community” feature

By: Aaron P. Rubin

App Developer Not Liable Under TCPA For User-Initiated Texts

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

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

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

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