A seemingly innocent post on Facebook blowing off a little steam which you may think is just being seen by your friends could land you in hot water. While context and privacy settings will ultimately be considered, you could find yourself in court before that happens if someone takes an idle post more seriously than you mean it. Robert Hilson looks at the issue in his article “Posting Idle Facebook Threats May Land Social Media Users in Law Enforcement Crosshairs.”

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With more and more businesses and individuals turning to the cloud for data storage, it is more important than ever to insure that that data is secure. Peter Cochrane’s article, “Cloud Security: Why the Future’s Bright – But Not If You’re On the Dark Side”, offers some tips to increase your security.

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Here is yet another story about how important social media is becoming in day-to-day law enforcement. Police are using social media to help build community with the public in addition to catching criminals. The Warner Robins, Georgia, Police Department recently found out what a powerful tool social media could be. Read Ashley Minelli’s story “Law Enforcement Using Social Media to Connect with Community” to learn more.

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A recent story in Time by Didi Tang with contributions from Gillian Wong, “U.S. Consulate’s Account Disappears from Chinese Social Media Site”, reveals that an American Consulate’s microblog from Beijing has suddenly disappeared fom the Internet due to mysterious “technical problems”. This appears to be a common problem with blogs that post on topics that are considered taboo. American should not expect to enjoy the same rights they experience at home even while on social media.

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Indian Interior Advisor Rehman Malik says social media must be regulated. Read more here.

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There has been a lot in the new lately about legislation restricting sex offenders from using social media, but it is still important that children are educated about using social media sites.  Drishyia Nair’s article “Educate Children About Social Media Traps” outlines some of these issues.

 

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A New Jersey law seeks to prevent employers from requiring prospective employees to hand over their social media passwords to enable the potential employer to thoroughly search those sites. Ramon Rivera’s article, “New Social Media Rule for New Jersey Employers Passes Assembly”, doesn’t indicate that legislation is pending in the state’s Senate, however.

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Both public and private schools in Delaware are now subject to a law which prohibits them from requiring students to surrender their social media passwords. California and Maryland are debating similar legislation to protect student privacy. Neha Prakash discusses the issues in “Delaware Law to Give Students Increased Online Privacy.”

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Ever wonder what your clients are thinking or saying about a particular issue? Social media makes it easy to find out as proven by the number of tweets, posts, blogs, etc that were devoted to Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act. Naturally, it’s helpful to know how your clients feel about certain issues, but it’s also good to know how they are expressing themselves. Deanne Katz’s article, “Everyone Has a Social Media Opinion on the Health Care Ruling, ” examines some of those comments.

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In a widespread student protest in Montreal, Quebec, students are helping raise awareness of perceived unfairness in tuition hikes through social media. They have also effectively harnessed social media to organize their public protests. Perhaps most significantly, the students are doing a much more efficient job of utilizing social media channels than the government is. Nelson Wyatt’s article “Social Media Making It Easier to Organize Student Protests, Get Media Out” provides a good overview of the situation.

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