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Weeding Out Wolves: Protecting Speakers And Punishing Pirates In Unmasking Analyses, Nathaniel Plemons Jan 2019

Weeding Out Wolves: Protecting Speakers And Punishing Pirates In Unmasking Analyses, Nathaniel Plemons

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note examines the prevalence of anonymous internet speakers, the practical and legal issues that courts confront when balancing the rights of anonymous internet speakers with those of plaintiffs seeking to unmask them, and the serious dangers courts expose speakers to if wrongfully unmasked. Part I argues that internet speech merits the same First Amendment protections as traditional speech, notes the unique benefits of anonymous internet speech, examines the practical difficulties faced by courts and plaintiffs in unmasking anonymous speakers, and details the immense dangers these speakers face if wrongfully exposed. Part II analyzes the most common approaches courts use …


Keeping It Off The Record: Student Social Media Monitoring And The Need For Updated Student Records Laws, Alice Haston Jan 2019

Keeping It Off The Record: Student Social Media Monitoring And The Need For Updated Student Records Laws, Alice Haston

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

An increasing number of school districts work with private companies to monitor public social media and to notify administrators of alarming student information. Although these services help address challenging school safety issues, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and state law offer little guidance on how districts should store student social media data. This Note encourages states to pass student records laws similar to recent California legislation and urges the Department of Education to clarify the relationship between student social media and education records under FERPA. New state and federal initiatives would help ensure that third parties may …


Commercial Clicks: Advertising Algorithms As Commercial Speech, Kerri A. Thompson Jan 2019

Commercial Clicks: Advertising Algorithms As Commercial Speech, Kerri A. Thompson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Congressional hearings have finally called for the "right regulation" of social media platforms. The First Amendment, however, has shielded internet companies from regulation since the birth of social media. Even if Congress enacts legislation now, internet companies will be able to defend against the "wrong regulation" by claiming the regulation unconstitutionally limits their freedom of speech. This Article uses Facebook's advertising algorithms as a case study of how Congress can properly regulate Facebook by analyzing the advertising algorithms as commercial speech, which receives less protection under First Amendment jurisprudence. In doing so, Congress can protect the strong public interest in …