The Cybercrime Prevention Act may have far reaching negative effects on free speech on social media networks. While the new law is meant to be “a measure against hacking, identity theft, spamming, cybersex and online child pornography”, there are fears that it will be used in libel cases which are a criminal offense in the Philippines. For the full story read, “Media Groups, Filipinos Protest Tough Cyber Law” by Hrvoje Hranjski.
In a global environment, social media sites must be aware of differing standards and laws among their many users. The line between hate speech and free speech is rarely clear, and social media sites try to clarify their own stance through their own terms of use and guidelines. Somini Sengupta examines the issue in “On Web, a Fine Line on Free Speech Across the Globe.”
Robbie Farrah is the latest celebrity to receive a tweet from a follower that has been widely labeled as abusive. The attack on the Australian sports figure has sparked a call for a review of current social media laws. Britain has already prosecuted a number of social media cases in which abuse has been directed at an individual through social media. Here are two articles from AAP on the Farrah incident:
“Barry O’Farrell Calls for Review of Social Media Laws”
“Twitter ‘Trolls’ Should Be Punished”
Because Facebook is a US based company, other countries have had difficulty in applying their own laws to disputes over content posted on the social media site. A recent controversy over The Aboriginal Memes Facebook page saw the Australian poster using US free speech protections to avoid Australian anti-discrimination laws. For the full story, read Rod McGuirk’s article “Facebook Pressured to Remove Page Deemed Racist.”
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.
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.
Indian Interior Advisor Rehman Malik says social media must be regulated. Read more here.
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.
By Michael Kernan
A major issue for Facebook going forward is going to be how it handles Right of Publicity claims by its users. Advertisers love Facebook because they have found that a friend endorsing their product has more impact on you as a consumer than a costly celebrity endorsement. The problem, as identified in the Facebook lawsuit recently settled, is Facebook users are claiming that Facebook has no right to use their name or likeness in such ads. Facebook sought to dismiss a lawsuit based upon claims that it violated its users’ Right of Publicity, but the judge refused to dismiss that lawsuit.
Facebook has now settled that lawsuit by paying $10 million to charity. (See Kevin Smith’s article.) It will be interesting to see how Facebook handles these claims going forward. The solution may lie in Facebook amending its terms of use. “Consent” is a defense to Right of Publicity actions.
Please see our article next week on terms of use.
You may also be interested in our previous entry on “The Right of Publicity in the Digital Age“.
For further background on the class action lawsuit and Facebook’s initial reaction to it, see the following two articles:
“Facebook Class Action Lawsuit Seeks$15 Billion for Privacy Violations” by Brian Prince.
“Facebook Hit with Lawsuit Alleging Privacy Wrongs” by John P Mello Jr.
US protections for Free Speech may keep Facebook from having to adhere to new EU laws. Dinah Greek looks at how “EU Data Privacy Directive Loophole Affects Social Networking Sites.”