Welcome to Socially Aware

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

September 19, 2016 - Advertising
Interest-Based Advertising Disclosure Requirements Become More Clear—and Potentially More Burdensome
By: Julie O'Neill
Recent enforcement decisions within the digital advertising industry indicate a shift in—and a clarification of—the required disclosures for companies engaged in interest-based advertising (IBA). In particular, these decisions, taken together, indicate that an app developer’s link to its privacy policy at the point of
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September 09, 2016 - Advertising, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Free Speech
Social Links: Snapchat ad revenue grows; the UK’s revenge porn problem; laws that enable control of digital assets after death
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Snapchat is on track to rake in an enormous amount of ad revenue by 2017. Also, there’s mounting evidence that the company is working toward developing a Google Glass-like product. We have written previously about the scourge of revenge porn; it turns out the
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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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September 02, 2016 - Advertising, First Amendment, Marketing, Free Speech, Mobile
Social Links: Instagram’s & Pinterest’s new features; the per-post premium paid to top influencers; a successful social media investor shares his strategy
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Instagram now allows users to zoom in on photos in their feeds and at least 11 brands are already capitalizing on the new feature. Pinterest acquired Instapaper , a tool that allows you to cache webpages for reading at a later time. A social-media
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August 31, 2016 - Electronic Contracts
Court Upholds Enforceability of “Clickwrap” Employee Agreement
By: Aaron P. Rubin
As we have previously discussed , if you want your electronic contracts to be enforceable, it is a best practice to require the counterparty to affirmatively accept the contract by checking a box or clicking a button. A recent New Jersey district court decision,
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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 24, 2016 - Defamation, Online Reviews, Section 230 Safe Harbor
Controversial California Court Decision Significantly Narrows a Crucial Liability Safe Harbor for Website Operators
A recent California court decision involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is creating considerable concern among social media companies and other website operators. As we’ve discussed in past blog posts, CDA Section 230 has played an essential role in the growth
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August 24, 2016 - E-Commerce, Protected Speech, Terms of Use, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Right To Be Forgotten, Infographic, Mobile
Now Available: The August Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here. In this issue of Socially Aware , our Burton Award winning guide to the law and business of social media, we discuss the impact online trolls are having on social media marketing;
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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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Welcome to Socially Aware

Interest-Based Advertising Disclosure Requirements Become More Clear—and Potentially More Burdensome

By: Julie O'Neill

Social Links: Snapchat ad revenue grows; the UK’s revenge porn problem; laws that enable control of digital assets after death

By: Aaron P. Rubin

App Developer Not Liable Under TCPA For User-Initiated Texts

Social Links: Instagram’s & Pinterest’s new features; the per-post premium paid to top influencers; a successful social media investor shares his strategy

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Court Upholds Enforceability of “Clickwrap” Employee Agreement

By: Aaron P. Rubin

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

Controversial California Court Decision Significantly Narrows a Crucial Liability Safe Harbor for Website Operators

Now Available: The August Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter

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