The digital world moves fast. To get you up to speed, we have compiled a quarterly recap of our five most popular social media blog posts from the Social Media Law Bulletin and the post that is currently trending. From questions ranging from “Is my SnapChat really deleted?” to “Can I tell my employee to stop Tweeting?,” we’ve got you covered ICYMI.
Top posts
Facebook “like” button violates privacy laws
Nerushka Bowan and Tatum Govender | April 21, 2016
On 9 March 2016 the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany ruled that an online shopping site, Peek & Cloppenburg, which integrated Facebook’s “like” button into its website had violated users’ privacy rights. The button allows website users who click on it to share instantly the pages and content from the website on their Facebook profiles. Read more
Liability for friends’ defamatory statements
Brian Chau | May 5, 2016
Liability for third-party defamatory comments on one’s personal account, whether on Facebook or another internet-based platform, is an emerging legal issue in Canadian law. If a social media “friend” posts defamatory statements about another person on your profile, or other site, can you be personally liable to the defamed person? Read more
Is my SnapChat really deleted?
Nerushka Bowan | May 16, 2016
Yes and no. SnapChat automatically deletes most messages after they have been opened or expired. However, it warns users that the recipient may take a screenshot or use some other screen capture technology (or simply take a photo of their screen with another camera). Read more
Asking employee to delete Twitter posts can be unlawful
Heather Sherrod | April 22, 2016
On March 14, 2016, the popular chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, was found to have violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it asked an employee to delete posts on his Twitter account about the company. Read more
Social media users responsible for comments
Edward Odendaal and Kerri Crawford | April 4, 2016
The High Court of South Africa ruled in Isparta v Richter that a Facebook user was guilty of defamation because a defamatory post appeared on his Facebook wall and was not removed by him, even though he was not the author of the post. The court ruled that because he knew of the post and “allowed his name to be coupled” with the author, he was as liable as the author. Read more
Currently trending
Social media risks during the Rio Games
Saul Perloff | August 1, 2016
Individuals, news outlets, and official Olympic sponsors are generally free to post and tweet about the games and athletes during the roughly month-long blackout period which began last week and ends on August 24. However, non-sponsor brand owners in the United States could face potential legal action if they are not careful. Read more
