People retweet lies and errors on Twitter all the time. Are there special cases where they should be punished for doing so? That’s what happened in the UK, raising questions again about how to regulate speech on not just Twitter, but other sites where you can slander with a single click. Read more at GigaOM »
Is liking something on Facebook a form of protected expression akin to putting a bumper sticker on your car? The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said, yes, it is. The ruling comes in response to a sheriff who sacked a deputy for liking the Facebook page […] Read more at GigaOM »
A proposed “shield law” for journalists is intended to protect them from government pressure and intervention. But what it really does is allow the government to define who gets to be a journalist and who doesn’t. And that’s dangerous. Read more »
The prosecution in Bradley Manning’s trial appears to be trying to draw a hard line between real journalism and an entity like WikiLeaks — but as Harvard law professor Yochai Benkler pointed out, that’s almost impossible to do. Read more at GigaOM »
Google has sued to shine more light on the secret court that approves controversial national security letters — the petition also represents part of the ongoing PR strategy of tech companies caught up in a surveillance scandal. Read more at GigaOM »
Facebook has admitted that it failed to apply its policies about offensive content to some disturbingly misogynistic pages. But is this a victory for the social network’s critics, or just another stop on the slippery slope of censorship? Read more at GigaOM »
Being falsely accused of a crime like child abuse is a traumatic experience that has become worse with social media. Two recent incidents in the US and UK highlight the problems — and show America’s approach to libel works better in the age of Twitter. Read more at GigaOM »
A New York judge who has been disciplined in the past for misusing social media today forced Twitter to turn over the tweets of one of its users. The surrender serves to undercut Twitter’s right to appeal part of the closely watched social media case. Read more at GigaOM »
Kids have always said bad things about teachers and gotten into trouble with their classmates. But today, it’s much easier for schools to overhear them by accessing a student’s Facebook account. One judge has put the brakes on this. Read more at GigaOM »
Facebook is stepping in to support a deputy sheriff who was fired for “Liking” his boss’s rival. The case, which will determine whether a “Like” is like a bumper sticker, is helping to define free speech in the age of social media. Read more at GigaOM »
In response to a GigaOM post about how attacks on WikiLeaks threaten the rights of all media entities, former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller said he agrees the organization should be protected by the First Amendment and media companies should come to its defence. Read more at GigaOM »
The Supreme Court chose to keep the country in suspense today over its momentous health care ruling, and instead issued a decision confirming that the FCC was wrong to sanction Fox over brief f-bombs by Cher and Nicole Richie. Read more »
Just as the New York Times can decide “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” search engines have a free speech right to choose who or what to put in their search rankings. Read more »
What’s with Biebs and these lawsuits? Last year, a deranged woman took him to court, claiming she was his baby-moma. Now, the teenage celeb… Read more »
Why does Twitter get involved in so many interesting lawsuits? In its short life, the company has kicked up legal hornet nests involving eve… Read more »
Ron Paul’s campaign suffered a setback this week in its effort to identify who uploaded videos that appear to show the presidential candidat… Read more »
In a new lawsuit, Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) says free speech rights permit it to use brand name helicopters in the hit game Battlefield 3… Read more »
Many fans say college sports are about the game and not the money. One New Jersey judge appears to agree, ruling that Electronic Arts (NSDQ:… Read more »
The Supreme Court ruled today that a California law that would have banned the sale of violent video games to minors is unconstitutional, be… Read more »
