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Social media is still pretty new. So it’s not surprising that all the legal ins-and-outs haven't been worked out. Sometimes the unofficial rules of social media, such as transparency and free speech, are bent for the public good. Other times not so much.
In New York City, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has given his officers the green light to register fake accounts on social media sites to catch bad guys. In one case they used Facebook to snag Brooklyn gang members who bragged online about murders they’d committed.
But sometimes using Facebook as an investigative tool goes too far for a judge. A 12- year-old Minnesota student was recently found to have had her First and Fourth amendment rights violated when her school demanded she turn over her Facebook password. School officials wanted to search her account for "inappropriate" messages after she had bad-mouthed a hall monitor online. Likewise, a California court shot down the Home Depot's request for access to a former employee's social network posts.
Whether you’re in the right or not, when you post online, you may get more attention than you wanted.
—Larry Greenemeier
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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2 Comments
Add Comment"Sometimes the unofficial rules of social media, such as transparency and free speech, are bent for the public good."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is never in the "public good" to bend someones free speech rights
It's simple - keep you FB profile limited to "Friends only" so your school and employer can't see what you're saying.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd never, ever, under any circumstances give out your password.
If an employer or job interviewer asks for access to your FB, tell them they can shove that job up their fascist posterior and find yourself an employer who understands what respect means. If they ask for your FB credentials, you know they'll be spying on everything you do and have no ethics to speak of - not someone you want to work for. If everyone refuses, they'll eventually stop asking.