Socially Aware

January 12, 2018 - Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Disappearing Content, Free Speech
Social Links: Facebook ups its facial recognition game; retracing Twitter’s 2017 missteps; YouTube stars’ fan bases reach their saturation point
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In order to comply with a new German law requiring social media sites to take down hate speech, Twitter and Facebook removed anti-Islamic social media posts authored by a German far-right political party. The Obama administration’s screening of social media accounts of aspiring immigrants
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December 20, 2017 - First Amendment, Artificial Intelligence, Cyberbullying, Disappearing Content, UK, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Free Speech
Social Links: Twitter’s tougher anti-hate-speech policy; tech-industry-friendlier version of bill to narrow the §230 safe harbor; 2017’s top posts
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In an effort to deter hate groups from tweeting sanitized versions of their messages, Twitter has began considering account holders’ off platform behavior when the platform evaluates whether potentially harmful tweets should be removed and account holders should be suspended or permanently banned. In
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November 28, 2017 - Blockchain, Cyberbullying, Privacy, Right To Be Forgotten, Section 230 Safe Harbor, Free Speech, Autonomous Vehicles
Social Links: Proposed legislation to outlaw “catfishing” & protect young Web users; blockchain technology’s impact on marketing
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The government in Indonesia has warned the world’s biggest social media providers that they risk being banned in that country if they don’t block pornography and other content deemed obscene. A member of the House of Lords has proposed an amendment to the U.K.’s
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August 21, 2017 - First Amendment, Hacking, Discovery, Free Speech
Social Links: A seminal opinion on web scraping; Obama breaks Twitter record; court holds state’s subpoena law applies to digital communications
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In an opinion granting a preliminary injunction preventing LinkedIn from blocking a startup’s use of information in LinkedIn profiles accessible to the entire public, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California expressed doubts that a federal anti-hacking law—the Computer Fraud &
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August 04, 2017 - First Amendment, European Union, Influencer Marketing, Antitrust, Defamation, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Can media companies be liable for their talents’ social media posts?; a trade group for social influencers; a potentially dangerous Snapchat update
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A defamation suit brought by one reality television star against another—and naming Discovery Communications as a defendant—could determine to what extent (if any) media companies may be held responsible for what their talent posts on social media. In a move characterized as setting legal
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June 23, 2017 - First Amendment, UK, Copyright, Free Speech
Social Links: SCOTUS strikes down law banning sex offenders from social media, denies cert in “dancing baby” case; Germany may require ID of status updates posted by “bots”
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a North Carolina law that the state has used to prosecute more than 1,000 sex offenders for posting on social media is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in what
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June 16, 2017 - Advertising, Blockchain, Endorsement Guides, Cybersecurity, Free Speech
Social Links: Instagram’s new tool to denote paid posts; the world’s 1st autonomous-vehicle public transportation system for the masses; the “COVFEFE Act” would seek to ensure Trump’s tweets are preserved
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Instagram is now allowing a limited number of users to identify branded content with a “paid partnership” subhead instead of using hashtags like #ad and #sponsored to identify sponsored posts. The platform says it plans to police paid sponsors’ disclosure obligations eventually, but—for now—educating
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June 12, 2017 - First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Copyright, Employment Law, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Court disallows firing over Facebook page rant; Ether threatens Bitcoin’s reign as top digital currency; NBA slam dunks social media marketing
By: Aaron P. Rubin
One year since agreeing with the European Commission to remove hate speech within 24 hours of receiving a complaint about it, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube are removing flagged content an average of 59% of the time , the EC reports. The U.S. Court
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April 14, 2017 - Advertising, User-Generated Content, Copyright, Free Speech
Social Links: Burger King ad triggers Google Assistant devices; suits allege infringement of copyrights in content posted to social media; Twitter’s hidden “dislike” button
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Without Google’s permission, Burger King ended one of its television commercials with a statement designed to automatically cause Google Assistant devices to read a list of the Whopper’s ingredients out loud. Having passed the 1.2-billion-user mark, Facebook Messenger is now twice as popular as
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April 11, 2017 - First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Privacy, Free Speech
Social Links: Twitter sues U.S. government to protect account holder’s ID; Minn. court orders Google to disclose users who searched crime victim’s name; Facebook targets revenge porn
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Twitter is suing the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to void a summons demanding records that would identify the creator of an anti-Trump Twitter account. Facebook has joined the fight against the nonconsensual dissemination of sexually explicit photos online—content known as “revenge
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Topic Archives: Free Speech

Social Links: Facebook ups its facial recognition game; retracing Twitter’s 2017 missteps; YouTube stars’ fan bases reach their saturation point

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter’s tougher anti-hate-speech policy; tech-industry-friendlier version of bill to narrow the §230 safe harbor; 2017’s top posts

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Proposed legislation to outlaw “catfishing” & protect young Web users; blockchain technology’s impact on marketing

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: A seminal opinion on web scraping; Obama breaks Twitter record; court holds state’s subpoena law applies to digital communications

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Can media companies be liable for their talents’ social media posts?; a trade group for social influencers; a potentially dangerous Snapchat update

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: SCOTUS strikes down law banning sex offenders from social media, denies cert in “dancing baby” case; Germany may require ID of status updates posted by “bots”

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Instagram’s new tool to denote paid posts; the world’s 1st autonomous-vehicle public transportation system for the masses; the “COVFEFE Act” would seek to ensure Trump’s tweets are preserved

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Court disallows firing over Facebook page rant; Ether threatens Bitcoin’s reign as top digital currency; NBA slam dunks social media marketing

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Burger King ad triggers Google Assistant devices; suits allege infringement of copyrights in content posted to social media; Twitter’s hidden “dislike” button

By: Aaron P. Rubin

Social Links: Twitter sues U.S. government to protect account holder’s ID; Minn. court orders Google to disclose users who searched crime victim’s name; Facebook targets revenge porn

By: Aaron P. Rubin