Legal Challenges of Social Media

 Hello There,

In order to understand the complicated online world that is social media, we must first understand the laws that govern online practices. Let's start with the basics, something every user (not just companies and social media specialists) should know: the Terms of Service.



Let's face it, "I have read and accept the Terms of Service" is probably the most commonly told lie on Earth by now. If you could name a single condition that you agreed to on ANY of the social media platforms you use, I'd be shocked. Why? We've all seen that screen before, haven't we? Yes, we've all had an opportunity to read the terms and conditions but the majority of us scrolled on past that little opportunity to understand our rights as if reading it was a chore. Do you use Instagram or Snapchat? Did you know that Instagram and Snapchat technically own the content shared or created on their platforms? You didn't? Well, guess where you could have read about that!

As a social media manager for any form of company, business, or artist, it would be important to carefully go over the Terms of Service for any platform that one intends to use for promotion of products or communication. This could be incredibly detrimental to a small business or an artist, sharing content only to realize that this content is no longer theirs. However, multi-million-dollar companies like Disney have failed to understand how copyright works on social media platforms. As illustrated by the Baby Yoda Gifs "Confusion" of 2019. 


Another ongoing issue across multiple social media platforms is how the laws protecting freedom of speech. This is especially prevalent today, applying to issues as commonplace as the difference between trolling and cyberbullying, to what is shared during political campaigns. For some of the questions regarding freedom of speech online the answers are as simple as knowing what's protected under that traditional legal definition of free speech. You cannot expect lies or rumors posted on Twitter to be protected by freedom of speech, just as you would not be protected for shouting "fire!" in a crowded movie theater. For more complicated matters, the legal definitions are still being decided through multiple court cases and government rulings. The best place to start as a social media manager is to, once again, check out those terms of service. Also, see if the platform you're using has a helpful page called "Community Guidelines". 
As for the rest of us: whether you work in stock trading or flip burgers at McDonalds, you NEED to check if your company/employer has any social media guidelines for employees. You can easily get fired for posting the "wrong" kind of content. 



Finally, I'd like to discuss the question of online privacy. Which is kind of an oxymoron. Basically, if you post about it on social media, you should assume you have just officially informed the entire human race of it, but this is a bit more complicated than simply "who can see what I post?". Privacy is a big issue since Social Media companies make their money from ads that target users based on collected data. Everything you post is not only visible to your followers, it is also collected and archived by the social media site you're using. Whether you are a big company, a politician, or an ordinary person, you need to be careful about what information you give these websites about yourself. 

There are a multitude of complicated legal issues that relate to social media. Not all of them have been addressed yet by the government of the United States or other countries because, social media has simply not been around for that long. There is no solid advice on how exactly to avoid a lawsuit on social media because of this. So, this is as far as my advice can stretch. 



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