Socially Aware

January 13, 2020 - Advertising, Influencer Marketing, Defamation, Section 230 Safe Harbor, COPPA
Social Links: YouTube bans some targeted ads; big changes afoot on Twitter; Facebook plans to remove ‘deep fakes’
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In a move that might be part of a settlement that YouTube has entered into with the Federal Trade Commission , the video-sharing site said it will ban “targeted” advertisements on videos likely to be watched by children. Because targeted ads rely on information
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December 20, 2019 - Terms of Use, Web Scraping, Ephemeral Messaging, topics/undefined, Copyright, COPPA
2019: Our Greatest Hits
Here at Socially Aware we covered a wide range of issues in 2019. We reviewed an opinion reminding us that user-generated content posted on social media platforms is not necessarily freely available for use in other contexts , and a rare instance of a
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December 10, 2019 - topics/undefined, Discovery, Litigation
Foreign Companies Can Use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Unmask Anonymous Internet Posters
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
A random Twitter account tags a Japanese company and badmouths it in a series of tweets. Because the tweets are tagged, a search of the company’s name on Twitter will display the tweets with the negative comments among the search results. Upset over the
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November 26, 2019 - Influencer Marketing, Cyberbullying, Online Reviews, Cybersecurity
Social Links: FTC fights fraudulent online product reviews; Twitter takes another swipe at trolls; Influencers affect everything from cybersecurity to career choices
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The high-end skincare brand Sunday Riley has settled lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission claiming that the brand’s founder encouraged employees of her eponymous company to set up accounts “under different identities” on the cosmetics retail site Sephora.com and leave positive reviews for
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November 20, 2019 - FTC, Influencer Marketing
Influencing the Influencers: FTC Staff Release “Disclosures 101” Guidance for Online Endorsers
By: Julie O'Neill
The Federal Trade Commission is trying yet another approach to convey the message that the relationship between a social media “influencer” and the brand he or she is endorsing must be disclosed. This new guidance from FTC staff takes the form of a brochure
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November 12, 2019 - Defamation, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Litigation
The Joys and Dangers of Tweeting: A CDA Immunity Update
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
A recent decision from a federal court in New York highlights the limits social media users enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The case involves Joy Reid, the popular host of MSNBC’s AM Joy who has more than two million
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November 06, 2019 - DMCA, Copyright, IP, Litigation
Will the Music Industry Continue To Win Its Copyright Battle Against ISPs?
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
For the last twenty years, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat unauthorized downloading of music. Initially, the industry focused on filing lawsuits to shut down services that offered peer-to-peer or similar platforms, such as Napster , Aimster and Grokster.
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November 04, 2019 - Terms of Use, Online Contracts, Litigation
Just Browsing: District Court Finds Browsewrap Agreement Enforceable
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
Courts continue to grapple with the enforceability of online agreements. While courts generally enforce clickwrap agreements—online agreements where users affirmatively show their acceptance after being presented with the terms, usually by clicking “I agree”—browsewrap agreements have stood on shakier enforceability grounds. Browsewrap agreements are
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October 31, 2019 - Data Security, Privacy
We’re Sorry, Your Service (Provider) Is Limited: The IAB CCPA Compliance Framework
By: Julie O'Neill
In a move likely welcomed by publishers seeking a solution to honoring “sale” opt-outs in the interest-based advertising space, the Interactive Advertising Bureau last week released the IAB California Consumer Privacy Act Compliance Framework for Publishers and Technology Companies. The IAB is the trade
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October 23, 2019 - Data Security, Privacy
Cookies: A Coming-of-Age Story
By: Mercedes Samavi and Alja Poler De Zwart
One of the most recent chapters in the ongoing EU cookies saga has come in the form of a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Planet49 case. The CJEU ruled that: (i) implied consent is not
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