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Socially Aware Blog The Law and Business of Social Media

Tag Archives: Facebook

The Diet Has Spoken: Japanese Lawmakers Approve Internet-Enabled Campaigning

By Gabriel Meister, Alexander Coley and Tomoki Kodama on Posted in Asia

In February 2013, we reported on legislative momentum in the Japanese Diet to bring Japan’s sixty-year-old election laws into the brave new world of Web 2.0. On April 19, 2013, that reform effort came to fruition, when a bill permitting the use of the Internet during election campaign periods passed both Houses of the legislature—just… Continue Reading

Stop Insider Tweeting!—Feds Eye Social Media for Securities Shenanigans

By Gary Stern on Posted in Financial Institutions, SEC, Securities Law

Article courtesy of Morrison & Foerster’s MoFo Tech As financial institutions and investors turn to social media to instantly share snippets of news and potential clues about market trends, the FBI and SEC are monitoring such postings for evidence of insider trading and improper investment information. Companies must comply with pre-Internet federal securities laws covering… Continue Reading

SEC Offers Guidance on Use of Social Media for Public Disclosure

By David M. Lynn on Posted in SEC, Securities Law

On April 2, 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance in the form of the Report of Investigation under Section 21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which indicates that social media channels—such as Twitter and Facebook—could be used by public companies to disseminate material information, without running afoul of Regulation… Continue Reading

More Trouble With Work-Related Social Media Accounts

By John Delaney and Jesse Soslow on Posted in Litigation, Privacy

We have written before about cases involving disputes between employers and employees over work-related social media accounts, but a new case out of Arizona federal court raises issues that appear to be unlike those we have addressed previously. In Castle Megastore Group, Inc. v. Wilson, plaintiff Castle Megastore Group (CMG), a retailer of novelty and… Continue Reading

Can Touting Your New Job on Social Media Sites Violate a Non-Solicitation Agreement?

By J. Alexander Lawrence and William Goodwin on Posted in Litigation

According to a federal judge in Oklahoma in Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v. Cahill, simply sharing information about a new job over social media does not mean that you are inviting former co-workers to come join you in violation of a non-solicitation agreement. On February 12, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge James Payne of the… Continue Reading

A Fistful of Data: Facebook and Profile Technology, Inc. Showdown Over the Right to Use Outdated User Information

By Jacob Michael Kaufman on Posted in Litigation, Privacy

As social media matures and users become more concerned about the privacy of the information they publish online, New Zealand-based search engine app company Profile Technology, Inc. and Facebook are engaged in a legal battle stemming from a dispute over the right to use certain user data. The story first came to light in October… Continue Reading

German Court Says Facebook Not Subject to German Law

By Karin Retzer on Posted in Litigation

Facebook may be gaining ground in its struggle against German authorities. In a preliminary ruling, the state of Schleswig-Holstein’s Administrative Court has rejected penalties against Facebook Inc. and Facebook Ireland, stating that the social network is not subject to German law. The Schleswig-Holstein state data protection authority (the ULD) started enforcement proceedings against the social… Continue Reading

Decades-Old Japanese Electioneering Law May Get a Web 2.0 Refresh

By Gabriel Meister on Posted in Asia

Here at Socially Aware, we report regularly on the difficulties inherent in applying long-established laws to new technologies like social media. An interesting example of this is unfolding in Japan: it concerns a decades-old law that has been interpreted to prohibit candidates, parties, and even the voting public from engaging in most campaign-related activities on… Continue Reading

Watch What You Tweet: Proposed Social Media Guidance for Financial Institutions

By Nathan D. Taylor, Julie O'Neill and Andrew M. Smith on Posted in Financial Institutions, Privacy

With the explosive growth of social media, consumers increasingly expect to be able to interact online with the companies from which they buy goods and services. As a result, financial institutions have begun to explore the use of social media, both to strengthen relationships with existing customers and to attract new ones. Financial institutions, however,… Continue Reading

Socially Aware Looks Back: The Social Media Law Year in Review

By John Delaney and Jesse Soslow on Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, Privacy

2012 was a momentous year for social media law. We’ve combed through the court decisions, the legislative initiatives, the regulatory actions and the corporate trends to identify what we believe to be the ten most significant social media law developments of the past year–here they are, in no particular order: Bland v. Roberts – A… Continue Reading

New Issue of the Socially Aware Newsletter Now Available

By John Delaney, Gabriel Meister and Aaron Rubin on Posted in Employment Law, FCC, FTC, IP, Litigation, Privacy, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Statistics, Terms of Use, Trademark

In the latest issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award-winning guide to the law and business of social media, we look at recent First Amendment, intellectual property, labor and privacy law developments affecting corporate users of social media and the Internet. We also recap major events from 2012 that have had a substantial impact on… Continue Reading

Facebook ’em, Danno: Federal Court May Decide Whether Citizens Have First Amendment Right to Use Social Media to Publicly Criticize the Hawaii 5-0

By Jacob Michael Kaufman on Posted in Litigation

On top of a presidential election, protests over Instagram’s terms of use, and the invention of gloves that can translate sign language, 2012 also brought to light interesting constitutional issues involving public entities’ use of social media when a citizens’ group filed suit against the City and County of Honolulu for “violations of [the group’s]… Continue Reading

Judge Posner Kicks that Flava in Ya Ear: New Guidance on Contributory Infringement from the Seventh Circuit

By Timothy Denny Greene and Debbie Rosenbaum on Posted in Copyright, DMCA, Litigation

Over the past year, a number of courts across the country have decided cases involving contributory infringement and the application of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s § 512(c) safe harbor in the social media context. Unfortunately for those who favor a uniform approach to the law, the precedent being developed is in many ways inconsistent. On… Continue Reading

Update: What’s Not to Like?

By Debbie Rosenbaum on Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, Privacy

As we reported earlier this year, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held in Bland v. Roberts that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. In the case, former employees of the Hampton Sheriff’s Office brought a lawsuit against Sheriff B.J. Roberts, in his individual and official… Continue Reading

California Attorney General Creates Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit; Increased Enforcement Likely

By Reed Freeman and Nicholas Datlowe on Posted in Privacy

On July 19th, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the formation of a new Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit within the state’s Department of Justice. The move is widely seen as a means of stepping up the state’s enforcement activities involving privacy issues. The Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit will be organized under the… Continue Reading

“You Have One New Lawsuit”: Can You Serve Legal Notice Through Social Media?

By Daniel Levison and Matthew O'Donnell on Posted in Litigation

As reported by Law360 and several other  sources, on June 7, 2012, in Fortunato v. Chase Bank, a federal district court ruled that defendant Chase Bank could not use Facebook to serve a third-party defendant with the complaint that Chase had filed against her. In Fortunato, plaintiff Lorri Fortunato sued Chase Bank, alleging that the… Continue Reading

Tracking the Trolls: A “Twitter Jitters” Update

By Alistair Maughan on Posted in E-Personation, Litigation

We reported this past May in our Socially Aware blog about efforts of law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom to adapt existing laws to police potential offenses committed via social media.  The UK government has just announced proposals that will make it easier to identify people who abuse social media. The UK government’s somewhat surprising… Continue Reading

Interview with Debbie Rosenbaum regarding Bland v. Roberts

By Corey Garver on Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, Privacy

As a result of her recent Socially Aware blog post What’s Not to Like, our contributor Debbie Rosenbaum has been interviewed by LXBN TV regarding Bland v. Roberts, the recent (and controversial) federal court decision holding that “liking” a Facebook page does not constitute protected speech under the First Amendment.  Click below to watch the… Continue Reading

Should We All Be Getting the Twitter “Jitters”? Be Careful What You Say Online (Particularly in the United Kingdom)

By Alistair Maughan and Susan McLean on Posted in Ethics, Litigation

History is littered with examples of the law being slow to catch up with the use of technology.  Social media is no exception.  As our Socially Aware blog attests, countries around the world are having to think fast to apply legal norms to rapidly evolving communications technologies and practices. Law enforcement authorities in the United… Continue Reading

Maryland Enacts First Law Prohibiting Employers From Requesting Passwords to Employees’ Online Personal Accounts

By Jessica Childress on Posted in Employment Law, Privacy

In our recent Socially Aware blog post, we noted that a number of pending state bills are seeking to ban employers from requesting confidential login information, including social media login information, as a condition of employment.  In fact, on April 9, 2012, Maryland passed Senate Bill 433/HB 964, prohibiting employers from requesting current and prospective… Continue Reading

What’s Not to Like?

By Debbie Rosenbaum on Posted in Employment Law, Litigation, Privacy

A recent district court decision highlights the growing prevalence of issues relating to new media technologies arising in the courtroom.  In Bland v. Roberts, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. Five former employees of the Hampton Sheriff’s… Continue Reading