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The new age of cyberbullying

Photo of Daniel Daniele (CA)By Daniel Daniele (CA) on Posted in General
There has been an increase in cyberbullying with the rise of social media. According to the Canadian government, “cyberbullying involves the use of communication technologies … to repeatedly intimidate or harass others”. Federal and provincial governments have effected legislative change to make harmful cyberbullying behaviours criminal or at least provide civil remedies for those harmed. … Continue reading

Social media activities and the appearance of bias

Photo of Joy Wang (US)By Joy Wang (US) on Posted in General
On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to decide the question of whether a district court judge is required to retroactively recuse himself when he allegedly follows the federal prosecutors on Twitter and, within hours after denying relief to the defendants, tweeted a link to an allegedly erroneous news article with a title … Continue reading

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s my taxable Insta value after all?

Photo of Georgina Hey (AU)Photo of Isobel Taylor (AU)By Georgina Hey (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on Posted in General
In sad news for celebrities and Instagram influencers across Australia, the introduction of the so-called ‘fame tax’ as part of a raft of integrity measures announced in the 2018/19 budget means that they could end up paying higher taxes on the income and non-cash benefits earned through the commercial exploitation of their image rights. In … Continue reading

Update: U.S. State Department to collect visa applicants’ social media information

Photo of Caleb Segrest (US)By Caleb Segrest (US) on Posted in General
In a previous post, we addressed efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to collect certain information relating to immigrants’ use of social media for record-keeping and tracking purposes. Subsequently, on March 30, 2018, the State Department released a notice of a proposed rule that would require the collection of social media information in connection … Continue reading

Update: social media and the Anti-Terrorism Act

Photo of Caleb Segrest (US)By Caleb Segrest (US) on Posted in General
We have previously written about the United States District Court for the Northern District of California’s (the “District Court”) dismissal of the plaintiffs’ complaint in Fields v. Twitter, Inc. We are back to provide an update after the case made its way to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Appellate … Continue reading

German law on hate speech – complaint procedures

By on Posted in General
The German law on hate speech (Network Enforcement Act – Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz) which came into effect on October 1, 2017 is continuously subject to criticism. Its legal and political implications in regard of the current global debate on the dealing with different opinions, the power and influence of social media on information and disinformation and its … Continue reading

Celebrity Endorsements, Cryptocurrencies, and Initial Coin Offerings

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
Our readers may recall that 2017 brought warning letters from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to celebrities who had posted some photos on Instagram and the FTC has recently taken action regarding some undisclosed “material connections.”  A post on our sister blog, Regulation Tomorrow, describes the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s recent warnings about celebrity … Continue reading

Chatbots gone wild? Some ethical considerations

Photo of Maya MedeirosBy Maya Medeiros on Posted in General
Chatbots are computer applications programmed to mimic human behaviour using machine learning and natural language processing. Chatbots can act autonomously and do not require a human operator. Given this freedom, chatbots do not always act in a manner that is fair and neutral – they can go wild with unintended consequences. For example, a chatbot … Continue reading

FTC and Social Media Influencer Endorsements

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
On September 7, 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered into a proposed consent agreement with two individuals and their company that allegedly ran an online gaming community website that allowed users to gamble virtual currency.  According to the FTC complaint, the two individuals promoted the gaming site and not … Continue reading

Social media: life after death?

Photo of Kerri Gevers (SG)By Kerri Gevers (SG) on Posted in General
Have you considered what you would like to happen to your social media accounts when you die? Where the platform gives you options, have you selected one? A while ago we wrote about what happens to your social media account when you die. Many platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn have different policies about … Continue reading

Legal chatbots: something for nothing?

Photo of Jeff Pettit (US)By Jeff Pettit (US) on Posted in Copyright, General
In June, we introduced the topic of chatbots and highlighted some key risks and concerns associated with this growing area of technology.  One business in particular, DoNotPay, made headlines recently by announcing that it would begin building legal chatbots for free. The claim? In a July 14, 2017, posting to the online publishing platform Medium, … Continue reading

Stay safe on social media – New ACCC guidelines

Photo of Georgina Hey (AU)By Georgina Hey (AU) on Posted in General
Businesses shelling out big bucks for prime advertising space are used to paying close attention to content, for the sake of the bottom line as well as out of respect for consumer law. However, it may not feel as natural and cost-effective to apply the same scrutiny to an Instagram caption. Why invest the business resources … Continue reading

FTC, Instagram Posts, and Endorsement Guides

Photo of Susan Ross (US)By Susan Ross (US) on Posted in General
On May 4, 2017, the public received access to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) advisory letters to approximately 45 companies and 45 celebrities/bloggers relating to potential “endorsements” on Instagram.  As a result, we now have some additional guidance on the FTC’s expectations with respect to its Endorsement Guides.… Continue reading

Social media and insurance

Photo of Patrick Bracher (ZA)By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on Posted in General
The mining of social media and the use of big data (vast amounts of available internet data that can be analysed and exploited) by insurers to analyse consumer behaviour will change the face of insurance. The basic principles of insurance include the good faith sharing of information between insurer and insured, a pooling of good … Continue reading

Advertising on the Internet – What Makes a Disclosure “Clear and Conspicuous”?

Photo of Mayura Noordyke (US)By Mayura Noordyke (US) on Posted in General
Increasingly, companies are turning to the internet and social media platforms to advertise their products, often by using native advertising or by providing incentives such as payments or free products to social media “influencers” (Instagrammers, Pinners, Bloggers and Vloggers, to name a few) in exchange for an endorsement. As we have previously discussed, the FTC … Continue reading

Court orders ex-employee to update LinkedIn profile

Photo of Kerri Gevers (SG)By Kerri Gevers (SG) on Posted in General
A South African High Court  on March 8, 2017 reportedly gave a former estate agent five days to correct the employment information on his LinkedIn profile. Three years after Mr. van der Schyff resigned from his position at Danie Crous Auctioneers, his profile still reflected that he was employed there. Despite two years’ worth of … Continue reading
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