Finding that President Trump’s Twitter feed constitutes a public forum, a federal judge in New York City held that it’s a First Amendment violation when the President or one of his assistants blocks a Twitter user from...more
In 2016, brands spent $570 million on social influencer endorsements on Instagram alone. This recode article takes a looks at how much influencers with certain followings can command, and whether they’re worth the investment....more
9/25/2017
/ Advertising ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Endorsements ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Google ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Instagram ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media
Welcome to the newest edition of Socially Aware, our Burton Awardwinning guide to the law and business of social media.
In this edition, we explore the threat to U.S. jobs posed by rapid advances in emerging technologies;...more
4/21/2017
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
Cross-Device ,
DMCA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
Mobile Apps ,
Safe Harbors ,
Snapchat ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Technology Sector ,
Tracking Systems ,
Trump Administration ,
WhatsApp
A court ruled that a particular 98-character tweet wasn’t sufficiently creative to warrant protection under German copyright law.
Inspired by a recording posted to Snapchat of a physical attack on a 14-year-old boy, a...more
A federal district court judge refused to grant summary judgment to the copyright owners of the Star Trek franchise in the infringement suit they brought against the team behind a fan-made, crowdfunded prequel to the original...more
1/23/2017
/ Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Ownership ,
EU ,
Instagram ,
Internet ,
Mobile Apps ,
Personal Data ,
Snapchat ,
Sponsored Ads ,
Star Trek ,
Summary Judgment ,
Yelp
Over 30 workers at a Japanese insurance company are losing their jobs following the company’s adoption of IBM’s Watson Explorer, an artificial intelligence system that will perform an important back office function at the...more
“Yellow journalism” websites are using social media to capitalize on popular ideology. And they’re making a bundle.
New York City recently passed the country’s first law protecting the wages of “gig economy” workers. The...more
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has filed suit to overturn a law that requires the popular entertainment website to remove the ages or birth dates of people in the entertainment industry upon request.
Vine might not...more
Facebook at Work, the on-the-job version of the web’s most popular social media platform, will launch in London on October 10th.
Add iHeartRadio to the list of Internet radio platforms that will be offering an on demand...more
The California Supreme Court agreed to hear Yelp’s case arguing that requiring the company to remove a one-star review of a law firm “creates a gaping hole” in the immunity that shields internet service providers from suits...more
9/27/2016
/ Bots ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Driverless Cars ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Google ,
Hackers ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
LinkedIn ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Safety Precautions ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Transparency ,
Trolls ,
Twitter ,
Websites ,
Yelp
Instagram now allows users to hide offensive comments posted to their feeds. Take that trolls!
Soon you’ll be able to watch Twitter content like NFL Thursday Night Football on a Twitter app on Apple TV, Xbox One and...more
9/21/2016
/ Ad-Blockers ,
Ballots ,
EU ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Internet Streaming ,
Selfies ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
YouTube
Snapchat is on track to rake in an enormous amount of ad revenue by 2017.
Also, there’s mounting evidence that the company is working toward developing a Google Glass-like product.
We have written previously...more
Instagram now allows users to zoom in on photos in their feeds and at least 11 brands are already capitalizing on the new feature.
Pinterest acquired Instapaper, a tool that allows you to cache webpages for reading at a...more
9/6/2016
/ Advertising ,
Facebook ,
Instagram ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Journalism ,
Mobile Apps ,
Photographs ,
Pinterest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media
Twitter took steps to remedy its harassment problem.
In addition, over the last six months, Twitter suspended 235,000 accounts that promoted terrorism....more
Facebook introduced technology that disables ad blockers used by people who visit the platform via desktop computers, but Adblock Plus has already foiled the platform’s efforts, at least for now....more
8/15/2016
/ Ad-Blockers ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Copyright ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
LinkedIn ,
Mobile Apps ,
PETA ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Twitter ,
Web Scraping
Instagram now allows celebrities to block trolls. The rest of us will have to continue trying to ignore Instagram trolls.
While Facebook reached new highs last quarter, Twitter continued to stumble. Will adding more live...more
8/1/2016
/ Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Defamation ,
Emoji ,
Facebook ,
Instagram ,
LinkedIn ,
Pinterest ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Trolls ,
Twitter ,
Yelp
Facebook Messenger joins the elite “one billion monthly users” club just four years after its release as a standalone app....more
7/25/2016
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Distracted Driving ,
Evidence ,
Facebook ,
Mobile Apps ,
Revenge Porn ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Trolls ,
Twitter ,
User-Generated Content ,
Video Games
We have become inured to the sight of people staring at their phones rather than engaging with one another or enjoying their real-life surroundings. But, over the past two weeks, enslavement to mobile devices rose to new...more
The UK wants to use the blockchain to track the spending of welfare recipients.
Some believe that a recent Ninth Circuit holding could turn sharing passwords into a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act....more
7/18/2016
/ Blockchain ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Facebook ,
Live Streaming ,
Mobile Apps ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
UK ,
Vine ,
Virtual Reality
Snapchat has caught on with “oldies” (that’s people 35 and older, FYI).
The Chinese government has forbidden online media from reporting news spread on social media sites.
A 14-year-old and his mom are suing...more
The Internet is abuzz over the Facebook algorithm change. Here are the implications for marketers and publishers and for regular users.
U.S. Customs wants to start collecting the social media accounts for foreign...more
Facebook signs more than $50 million worth of deals with media firms and celebrities to create videos for its live-streaming service....more
Lots of press surrounding Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn: Will LinkedIn change as a result? Will the Microsoft purchase inspire a Twitter acquisition?
“Spam King” gets 30 months in jail for sending 27 million messages....more
Social media has upended a number of industries. Is Wall Street next?
Facebook is getting into the video game live-streaming business....more
6/10/2016
/ Arrest ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Internet ,
Marketing ,
Offensive Language ,
Personal Brands ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
Websites
Facebook users spend more time on the platform than they spend pursuing any other leisure activity, except TV. Indeed, 1/16th of the average user’s waking time is spent on the platform.
The most disliked movie trailer in...more