Socially Aware brings together Morrison Foerster lawyers across disciplines to cover the legal developments shaping social media, digital platforms, online content, AI, and other emerging technologies. We focus on the issues that matter to companies building digital products, engaging with users and consumers, and doing business online.Topics we cover include:<ul><li>Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies</li><li>Platform regulation, content moderation, and intermediary liability</li><li>Online safety and children and teens online</li><li>Privacy, data, and cybersecurity</li><li>Digital media, content, and intellectual property</li><li>Advertising, marketing, and consumer protection</li></ul>We go beyond reporting the latest developments to explain what they mean for businesses, where the law is heading, and what companies should be thinking about next.<h2>About Morrison Foerster</h2>Morrison Foerster is a global law firm known for its work at the intersection of technology, regulation, and policy. Our lawyers advise leading technology companies, emerging businesses, and global brands on the transactions, disputes, regulatory matters, and novel legal questions shaping the digital economy.<a href="https://www.mofo.com/capabilities/interactive-digital-media" target="_self">Learn more about Morrison Foerster.</a>

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Aaron is the co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group and former chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution arrangements.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in data- and technology-intensive sectors, with a particular emphasis on AI and interactive and digital media (including social platforms, AR/VR, gaming, and streaming). He also regularly works with clients in autonomous vehicles, Healthtech, Fintech, Adtech, and broader software and consumer technology markets. His work often sits at the intersection of product, data, IP, and commercial relationships, particularly in connection with AI-driven and platform-based business models and emerging technologies.He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spinoffs, and private equity investments.He has represented leading technology companies such as OpenAI, Meta, ElevenLabs, Visa, Autodesk, General Motors, Honda, and Rivian, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions and is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social platforms, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. He is a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs.In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as a law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

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Our technology transactions and information technology lawyers advise on issues relating to the acquisition and commercialization of new technologies and IP assets.

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Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

Aaron P. Rubin

Lawrence Gallick is a partner in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.In 2023, Lawrence seconded at Amazon Lab126, where he led the negotiation of high-profile licensing deals for a variety of Amazon device teams. The secondment was an immersive opportunity to gain additional insights and experience from the perspective of in-house counsel. Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in California, New York, and Texas. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

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Lawrence Gallick

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony Ramirez

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Anthony M. Ramirez

Social Links: Laws, Algorithms, and Other Moving Targets

Old Products, New Obligations: EU Cyber Resilience Act Reporting Is Now Live

Social Links: The Kids Are Still Online

Social Links: Platform Rules and Other Vintage Formats

Social Links: The Rules of Admission

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A California Law Gets PersonalMost people would probably prefer not to have a statute informally named after them. YouTuber Nicholas Shirley has now taken the additional step of suing over his.Shirley filed a <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/conservative-youtuber-files-free-speech-suit-over-california-law" target="_blank">federal lawsuit</a> challenging California’s <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2624" target="_blank">AB 2624</a>, which critics have dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.” The bill earned its nickname through its association with Nick Shirley, a self-described citizen journalist whose viral videos showed him confronting workers and looking into alleged fraud at taxpayer-funded programs like daycare centers and nonprofits. The law expands California’s Safe at Home address confidentiality program to cover immigration support service providers, their employees, and their volunteers, adding protections against doxxing and harassment.Shirley says it goes too far. <a href="https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/caedce/2%3A2026cv03000/499916" target="_blank">His complaint</a> claims that AB 2624 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, calling it a content-based, viewpoint-discriminatory restriction that will chill reporting built on public records, social media posts, interviews, and other lawfully gathered information. California and the bill’s supporters see it as a <a href="https://sjud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/ab-2624-bonta-sjud-analysis.pdf" target="_blank">worker-safety measure responding to real threats</a> against people doing immigration-related work.Shirley argues that the law’s definitions, penalties, and civil remedies create enough uncertainty to deter lawful reporting about organizations receiving public money.The suit asks the court to block enforcement before AB 2624 takes effect on October 1, 2027. Whatever happens next, Shirley has achieved the uncommon distinction of becoming both a critic of California legislation and part of its <a href="https://youtu.be/KM2K7sV-K74?si=frRc2Q1aoew5Gju5&t=5" target="_blank">unofficial name</a>.TikTok’s COPPA Deal Has an FTC-Shaped Hole<a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/topics/social-links-the-kids-are-still-online" target="_blank">We recently wrote</a> about TikTok and ByteDance’s agreement to pay up to $400 million to resolve the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-400m-settlement-tiktok-and-bytedance-resolve-childrens-privacy" target="_blank">Justice Department’s COPPA lawsuit</a>. At the time, the size of the settlement and its implications for age assurance supplied plenty to discuss.What’s drawn more attention since the announcement is how little the FTC figures into it. That’s peculiar because the case originated with the FTC. The agency investigated TikTok, concluded that the company had violated COPPA and a 2019 consent order involving predecessor Musical.ly, and referred the matter to DOJ. The Justice Department then sued in 2024 on the FTC’s behalf.But when DOJ announced the settlement on August 21, the FTC was absent from the announcement. <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/tiktoks-unusual-kids-privacy-settlement-sidelines-ftc-role" target="_blank">According to Bloomberg Law</a>, the agency also received no publicly disclosed authority to oversee TikTok’s compliance with the settlement. The announcement arrived without the kind of detailed consent decree that ordinarily gives companies, regulators, and privacy lawyers a clearer look at future compliance obligations.There is another oddity. TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million if the court vacates the 2019 Musical.ly consent decree. That decree imposed continuing obligations after the FTC accused Musical.ly of illegally collecting children’s information. <a href="https://www.mlex.com/mlex/articles/2516646/tiktok-settles-us-doj-s-coppa-suit-for-400m-after-2024-offer-of-1bn" target="_blank">MLex reports</a> that the new settlement contains no additional injunctive relief.In other words, the government sued after the FTC alleged violations of both COPPA and an existing FTC order, then settled for a substantial payment while potentially eliminating that order without publicly replacing it with comparable prospective requirements.DOJ has emphasized the significant changes TikTok made while the litigation was pending, including changes to its ownership, management, compliance operations, age controls, and parental safeguards. Those improvements may help explain the structure of the resolution, but it’s a thin trail for anyone trying to predict what comes next. For the moment, one of the most interesting features of a major FTC-originated privacy case is how little visible FTC involvement remains at the end.Australia Wants Users to Pick Their FeedAustralia, having <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/topics/social-links-the-kids-are-still-online" target="_blank">already restricted social media access</a> for users under 16, is now turning from who gets to use social media to what those users see once they get there.On September 8, the government released <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/exposure-draft-online-safety-amendment-digital-duty-care-bill-2026" target="_blank">draft Digital Duty of Care legislation</a> that includes an initiative called “<a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/my-feed-my-way" target="_blank">My Feed, My Way</a>.” Under the proposal, platforms would have to notify both new and existing users that they can opt out of a personalized, algorithm-driven default feed in favor of one built from accounts they actually follow.Users who enjoy having an algorithm decide what should occupy the next hour of their lives remain free to do so.The provision sits inside a larger safety package that would expand the eSafety Commissioner’s enforcement powers and allow fines of up to AU$109.2 million. The feed provision is especially interesting because it targets one of the basic design choices behind modern social media. Governments have spent years regulating content, privacy, age limits, and platform access. Australia is now proposing to regulate the default mechanism that decides which content reaches a user in the first place.The legislation remains in draft form and under consultation, so the final version may look different if and when it reaches parliament, but at least “My Feed, <a href="https://youtu.be/rDyb_alTkMQ?si=nqErRlin57ra5tI3&t=25" target="_blank">My Way</a>” isn’t the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1623/text" target="_blank">worst name we’ve ever seen</a>.ChatGPT Is a Search Engine. Sort Of.The European Commission recently <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/list-designated-vlops-and-vloses" target="_blank">designated ChatGPT a “Very Large Online Search Engine”</a> under the Digital Services Act.ChatGPT reported 159.1 million average monthly users of its search features in the EU, well above the 45 million threshold for designation. OpenAI will now face additional <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-vlops" target="_blank">DSA obligations</a> involving systemic-risk assessments, mitigation measures, auditing, and transparency. This is all navigable, as many other major platforms have shown, but there’s one small complication: the designation applies <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/new-eu-rules-for-chatgpt-dont-cover-chat/" target="_blank">specifically to ChatGPT’s search functionality</a>.Ordinary conversations in which ChatGPT generates responses without searching the web do not fit inside the DSA’s search-engine framework. With the announcement that ChatGPT is officially a very large search engine, except when it is busy being ChatGPT, the EU has managed to land on a classification that’s simultaneously accurate and awkward.

Social Links: Laws, Algorithms, and Other Moving Targets 

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.

Lawrence Gallick is a partner in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions.











Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.

Aaron Rubin

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For most companies preparing for the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), December 11, 2027 has been the date circled on the calendar. That is when the CRA’s broad product cybersecurity requirements (including vulnerability handling, security testing, and security updates) generally start to apply. But one important part of the CRA has become effective much earlier. Since September 11, 2026, manufacturers have been required to report certain actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe security incidents affecting products with digital elements (PDEs). And the reach of that obligation may be broader than many companies expect.Read the <a href="https://datadecoded.mofo.com/topics/260916-old-products-new-obligations-eu-cyber-resilience-act" target="_self">full post on our Data Decoded blog</a>.

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Managing Partner, Amsterdam

Alex van der Wolk, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s preeminent Global Privacy & Data Security practice and managing partner of the firm’s Amsterdam and Brussels offices, employs his nearly 20 years of experience to advise global companies on their most complex data strategies and compliance programs governing all aspects of information management. 

With more than a decade of experience, Mr. van der Wolk helps clients develop privacy strategies for digital transformations, industrial IoT, telematics, Big Data, commercial and marketing programs, a

Alex van der Wolk

Alex van der Wolk, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s preeminent Global Data, Cyber + Privacy practice and managing partner of the firm’s Brussels office, employs his nearly 20 years of experience to advise global companies on their most complex data strategies and compliance programs governing all aspects of information management.

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Christoph Nuessing advises leading international and German companies on complex digital regulatory matters, with a particular focus on the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors. 


Christoph Nüßing

Christoph Nüßing is a senior associate at Morrison Foerster’s German office in Berlin. He advises German and international clients on a broad range of regulatory questions and has particular industry-specific experience in the areas of technology, media and telecommunication.

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Marijn Storm