Law Commons^™

Influences Of Social Media, Samuel Whatley Ii

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The Internet is a double-edged sword because it provides easy access to information of both good and bad intentions. Censorship justifications under whoever deems something misinformation, provide little oversight on being a neutral public forum. For instance, the influence of elections by not covering a story and censoring opposing views does not promote the notion of being a neutral public forum. Artificial intelligence being applied to many technological applications have fueled the censorship machine. In some instances, artificial intelligence can generate stories to media sites (i.e., ChatGPT) with no verification of the details. From science fiction to science reality, taking …

Anti-Antisemitism Now, Lili Levi

University of Miami Law Review

On May 25, 2023, the Biden Administration released The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism—America’s first national strategy of this kind. In early November 2023, the White House announced the establishment of the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia. These historic commitments respond to increases in identity-based bias incidents and expression against Jews and Muslims. Antisemitic incidents, which were already rising even before the pandemic, increased by almost 400% since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The war also triggered a sharp upturn in Islamophobic incidents in the U.S., including the shooting of three college students and …

The Kids Are Not Alright: A Look Into The Absence Of Laws Protecting Children In Social Media, Libby Morehouse

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

Approaches To Regulating Privacy Dark Patterns, Matthew Gaulton, Dominique Kelly, Jacquelyn Burkell

FIMS Publications

In this paper, we will evaluate new bills slated to replace the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and offer stronger privacy dark pattern protections to Canadians.

Existing scholarship in the realm of privacy law, such as “Deceptive Design and Ongoing Consent in Privacy Law” by Jeremy Wiener and “Privacy Dark Patterns: A Case for Regulatory Reform in Canada” by Ademola Adeyoju, primarily focuses on creating frameworks for understanding privacy dark patterns in the law and explaining the pitfalls and legal inadequacies surrounding dark pattern legislation in Canada.

However, the aim of this paper diverges significantly. While acknowledging …

Identifying And Responding To Privacy Dark Patterns, Dominique Kelly, Jacquelyn Burkell

FIMS Publications

Privacy dark patterns are user interface design strategies intended to “nudge” users to reveal personal data, either directly or by enabling (or failing to disable) privacy-invasive platform/profile settings. Examples of privacy dark patterns on social media include defaults that enable the public display of posted content, warnings that follow attempts to reject personalized ads, and hidden “skip” buttons that make it more challenging to decline privacy-undermining requests such as to sync contacts.

Our project aims to minimize the impact of privacy dark patterns on Canadian youth. Building on our prior research documenting the use of these strategies on five social …

Communication With Public Officials In The Modern Age Of Social Media: Does It Violate The First Amendment When Public Officials Block Private Individuals From Their Social Media Pages?, Emily Cohen

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

In the modern world, social media dominates. It is considered an almost essential function of public officials, ranging from the President of the United States to local politicians, to maintain at least one social media page to keep the public updated on their policies and current events. As public officials shift toward social media to communicate with the public, these social media sites become the new spaces for public discourse, with members of the public often commenting on or responding to public officials' posts. As more public discourse occurs on these sites, and individuals begin to criticize their public officials …

Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Remedying Malicious Social Bot Behavior Via Section 230 Reform, Jackson Smith

William & Mary Business Law Review

As “interactive computer services” (social media sites) expanded over the past decade, so too did the prevalence of “social bots,” software programs that mimic human behavior online. The capacity social bots have to exponentially amplify often-harmful content has led to calls for greater accountability from social media companies in the way they manage bot presence on their sites. In response, many social media companies and private researchers have developed bot-detection methodologies to better govern social bot activities. At the same time, the prevalence of harmful content on social media sites has led to calls to reform Section 230 of the …

Likes, Camera, Action: Safeguarding "Child Influencers" Through Expanded Coogan Protections And Increased Regulation Of Social Media, Dana D. Joss

William & Mary Business Law Review

As a result of the increased popularity of influencer marketing, various “child influencers” have risen to stardom on popular social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. To date, these children have no protections under the law to safeguard them from the dangers of the influencer industry. Namely, there are no safeguards from financial exploitation by parents and guardians; children hold no guarantee that they can retain their earnings from social media. Further, there are no regulations in place regarding the number of hours child influencers may work and such children sometimes maintain little control over the extent of …

Anything You Say (Or Like, Repost, And Quote) Can Be Used Against You, Alexandra Heyl

Catholic University Law Review

Social media allows users to exchange thoughts and ideas without saying a single word. Whether a user “likes” “reposts” or “quotes” third-party content, a user publicly interacts with content authored by someone else with the click of a button. Is this online activity more akin to a user making a statement, adopting a third-party’s statement, or not making a statement at all? Does it matter? Only certain statements can be used against you at trial. Federal Rule of Evidence (“Federal Rule”) 802(a) provides that “hearsay” is an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted. According to Federal …

Digital Terror Crimes, Cody Corliss

Law Faculty Scholarship

Terror actors operating within armed conflict have weaponized social media by using these platforms to threaten and spread images of brutality in order to taunt, terrify, and intimidate civilians. These acts or threats of violence are terror, a prohibited war crime in which acts or threats of violence are made with the primary purpose of spreading terror among the civilian population. The weaponization of terror content through social media is a digital terror crime.

This article is the first to argue that the war crime of terror applies to digital terror crimes perpetrated through social media platforms. It situates digital …

Machine Manipulation: Why An Ai Editor Does Not Serve First Amendment Values, Alec Peters

University of Colorado Law Review

The past few years have seen increasing calls for regulation of large social media platforms, and several states have recently enacted laws regulating their content moderation, promotion, and recommendation practices. But if those platforms are exercising editorial discretion when carrying out these tasks, many of the regulations will run into constitutional concerns: the First Amendment protects the “exercise of editorial control and judgment” by publishers over their choice of content and how it is presented. However, the editorial operation of social media platforms differs significantly from traditional media, most importantly in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for editorial decision-making. …

Social Media, The Modern Public Forum: The State Action Doctrine And Resurrection Of Marsh, Erika L. Andersen

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Justice: Criminalizing Avatar Sexual Assault In Metaverse Spaces, Olivia Bellini

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Target(Ed) Advertising, Derek E. Bambauer

UF Law Faculty Publications

Targeted advertising—using data about consumers to customize the ads they receive—is deeply controversial. It also creates a regulatory quandary. Targeted ads generate more money than untargeted ones for apps and online platforms. Apps and platforms depend on this revenue stream to offer free services to users, if not for their financial viability altogether. However, targeted advertising also generates significant privacy risks and consumer resentment. Despite sustained attention to this issue, neither legal scholars nor policymakers have crafted interventions that address both concerns, and existing regulatory regimes for targeted advertising have critical gaps.

This Article makes three key contributions to the …

Protecting Free Speech In Social Media: A Pathway To Self-Determination In International Law, Sydney Marie Harley

Emory International Law Review Recent Developments

With the growth of Internet and social media usage, state regulatory action to surveil and censor citizens is running rampant. As the principle of self-determination stands, minority populations are typically bearing the brunt of these attacks, receiving little protection under domestic and international law. Self-determination within international law must be restructured into a definitive pathway that includes protecting the freedom of speech to encourage discourse and tolerance between the State and its minority populations. This article proposes a solution that could fill the gap in international law formed by insufficient domestic rule in States that neglect to protect these populations …

Comment On Part 4 Essays: Goodwin And Dailey And Rosenbury, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

Professors Michelle Goodwin and Anne Dailey and President Laura Rosenbury have written two compelling essays on Part 4 of the Restatement of Children and the Law, dealing with Children in Society. Goodwin’s essay, She’s So Exceptional: Rape and Incest Exceptions Post-Dobbs, focuses on § 19.02 of the Restatement, dealing with the right of minors to reproductive health treatments. This Section was approved by the American Law Institute before the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade. In her essay, Goodwin explores the harms that will follow if minors’ right of access …

The Public’S Companies, Andrew K. Jennings

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Essay uses a series of survey studies to consider how public understandings of public and private companies map into urgent debates over the role of the corporation in American society. Does a social-media company, for example, owe it to its users to follow the free-speech principles embodied in the First Amendment? May corporate managers pursue environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) policies that could reduce short-term or long-term profits? How should companies respond to political pushback against their approaches to free expression or ESG?

The studies’ results are consistent with understandings that both public and private companies have greater public …

The News Media Engagement Principle: Why Social Media Has Not Actually Overrun The Limited Purpose Public Figure Category, Zachary R. Cormier

University of Miami Law Review

Has the rise of social media ruined the limited purpose public figure category of the First Amendment’s actual malice privilege? Justice Gorsuch believes so—and he has recently invited courts to get rid of it. He argues that the category now includes vast numbers of otherwise private citizens that have “become ‘public figures’ on social media overnight.” With so many people qualifying as limited purpose public figures (and having to overcome the actual malice standard to prevail on a defamation claim), he claims that the category has evolved to provide an unjustified shield for the masses of misinformation-peddlers on social media. …

For Freedom Or Full Of It? State Attempts To Silence Social Media, Grace Slicklen

University of Miami Law Review

Freedom of speech is, unsurprisingly, foundational to the “land of the free.” However, the “land of the free” has undergone some changes since the First Amendment’s ratification. Unprecedented technological evolution has ushered in a digital forum in which the volume, speed, and reach of words transcend the Framers’ visions of the First Amendment’s aims. Social media platforms have become central spaces for public discourse, where opportunities to create—and repress—speech are endless. From enabling individuals to freely express their views, to allowing state actors to limit open exchanges, it is about time that the Supreme Court tackles this complex issue of …

The Eyes Beyond The Screen: Digital Media Policy And Child Health, Yahia Al-Qudah

Research Symposium

Background: Modern communication technology and digital media have provided society with a foundation for instant messaging. Pictures, videos, and texts connect individuals with families, friends, and the world. Consequently, digital media has accelerated exposure to risk in which children and adolescents are most vulnerable. This project’s objective is to 1) congregate and highlight current knowledge about the impact of digital media on child health, and 2) underline deficiencies in related laws and regulations as well as offer solutions in digital media policy.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted through the JAMA Pediatrics database with keywords such as “digital media,” …

All The News That’S Fit To Be Identified: Facilitating Access To High-Quality News Through Internet Platforms, Sonja R. West, Jonathan Peters, Lefteris Jason Anastasopolous

Scholarly Works

Roughly half of Americans get some of their news from social media, and nearly two-thirds get some of their news from search engines. As our modern information gatekeepers, these internet companies bear a special responsibility to consider the impact of their platform and site policies on users’ access to high-quality news sources. They should adopt policies that clear the digital pathway between the public and press by facilitating such access. To that end, the companies must first, address the threshold issue of how best to identify high-quality news sources. This article examines factors that would be useful, drawing from legal …

Future-Proofing U.S. Laws For War Crimes Investigations In The Digital Era, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Advances in information technology have irrevocably changed the nature of war crimes investigations. The pursuit of accountability for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community now invariably requires access to digital evidence. The global reach of platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter means that much of that digital evidence is held by U.S. social media companies, and access to it is subject to the U.S. Stored Communications Act.

This is the first Article to look at the legal landscape facing international investigators seeking access to digital evidence regarding genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. It …

Disrupting The Narrative: Diving Deeper Into Section 230 Political Discourse, Koustubh “K.J.” Bagchi, Elizabeth Banker, Ife Ogunleye

Pepperdine Law Review

Online spaces have undoubtedly played a significant role in facilitating discourse and the exchange of information. With this increased discourse, however, digital platforms have also seen a rise in harmful or problematic content shared online––including health misinformation, hate speech, and child sex abuse material, among others. Many commentators have put the blame for this trend on Section 230, arguing that Section 230 has enabled the spread of harmful content and suggesting that Section 230 ought to be amended or replaced. This Essay, by contrast, argues that the current narrative about Section 230 gets it wrong. In reality, Section 230 has …

This Isn't A Reality Show: How Social Media Livestreams Of High-Profile Criminal Trials May Violate One's Right To A Fair Trial, Ryan Fenn

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Since the invention of television in 1927, the American legal system faced drastic changes. In 1935, the first trial was broadcast to the public in the case of Bruno Hauptmann. During the trial, “[e]laborate telegraph equipment” was installed in the courtroom, with “sound and motion picture equipment . . . plainly visible in the [courtroom] balcony.” From 1935 on, broadcasting technology has been utilized in the courtroom to convey the inner workings of certain courts to the public, which has stimulated debate over whether the use of this technology is conducive to a fair trial under the Sixth and …

Disinformation And The First Amendment: Fraud On The Public, Wes Henricksen

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Following the 2020 presidential election, the losing candidate, Donald Trump, along with most of the Republican Party, spread the false claim that the election had been stolen by Democrats. Joe Biden, so the claim went, had not been legitimately elected, and was therefore an illegitimate President and needed to be removed. This profitable falsehood6 became known as the “Big Lie.” It was not only baseless, but it was in fact made in spite of and in direct conflict with the overwhelming evidence debunking it. This did not stop people from believing it. Millions bought into the Big Lie, which …

Texas’ War On Social Media: Censorship Or False Flag, Leni Morales

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Just Following Up: My Experience As A Summer Student Administrator For Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Llp, Bridget Leslie

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this paper, I reflect on my experience as a Summer Student Administrator for Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP where I acquired skills such as proficiency in various software and data analysis as well as professional communication, confidence, and organization. I applied these skills daily to produce quality work, and I am still applying these skills to my academic and personal life almost a year later. The culminating experience of the summer was presenting my own data analysis to a group of executives, which helped me improve my presentation skills and foster confidence in my own abilities. In addition to …

The New Normal: Navigating Legal Challenges In The World Of Influencer Marketing & How Adr Can Help, Olivia Davis

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fake News And The Tax Law, Kathleen Delaney Thomas, Erin Scharff

Washington and Lee Law Review

The public misunderstands many aspects of the tax system. For example, people frequently misunderstand how marginal tax rates work, misperceive their own average tax rates, and believe they benefit from tax deductions for which they are ineligible. Such confusion is understandable given the complexity of our tax laws. Unfortunately, research suggests these misconceptions shape voter preferences about tax policy which, in turn, impact the policies themselves.

That people are easily confused by taxes is nothing new. With the rise of social media platforms, however, the speed at which misinformation campaigns can now move to shape public opinion is far faster. …

A Matter Of Motive: Malice In The Law Of Torts In The Age Of Connectivity, Greg Bowley

Dalhousie Law Journal

To meet the challenges posed by the novel modes of interpersonal relationships of contemporary society, Canadian tort law must develop a general principle of liability for the intentional infliction of harm. This principle would recognize the normatively-significant common thread of the wrongdoer’s intention to cause harm to another person in phenomena as varied as doxing, swatting, revenge porn, cyberstalking, impersonation, trolling, and harassment. The recent development of discrete, context-specific torts in response to problematic social media conduct is an inherently limited approach to novel interpersonal conduct. However, it also offers an opportunity for the enunciation of a general principle of …