Tag:social media
Regulating Minors in Digital Spaces
With the digital age, young children are gaining access to social media accounts. Child influencers are being put into the spotlight before they can understand the impact a lack of privacy can have on their lives. Children cannot meaningfully consent to having a digital footprint, states have a compelling interest in regulating child participation online. These legal safeguards are necessary for both the financial and psychological health of children in digital spaces. Just as states have long regulated child labor in the entertainment industry, the modern regulation of social media should provide the same protection for minors on social media.
Can Personal Posts become Professional Problems?
Social media is an unavoidable part of everyday life, it is how people communicate and document their experiences. However, it is very easy for an informal post to go beyond the intended audience of close family and friends, reaching the general public. This means that one’s persona on social media can be seen by employers as a proxy for their professionalism and personal judgment. While the internet operates as a virtual “Wild West” with little to no rules, federal organizations offer some guidance as to employees’ communication and expression on social media like the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Ultimately it is on the employees to understand the risks a social media presence poses and what protections exist.
Modern Marketing v. FDA Enforcement: The Unregulated Frontier of Trendy Skincare and Digital Labeling
“Slugging”, “glass skin”, and “mineral mixing”, oh my! These are just a few of the current trends present in the skincare scene today. With the boom of social media advertising, non-professionals posting advice to TikTok, and companies’ budgets for trendy skincare campaigns in the millions, where do we draw the line between FDA-regulated skincare and “digital labeling” in this new generation of cosmetic advertising?
Curbing Censorship: The Constitutional Challenges of Addressing Social Media Moderation
At a time when online spaces have become central for news, connection, and the exchange of ideas, the balance between free speech and content moderation is more important than ever. In recent months, there have been rising concerns over potential government censorship and the proliferation of misinformation, especially on social media. The lack of transparency in the tech industry makes this issue uniquely tricky, as each platform’s distinct algorithms are largely proprietary. However, many users feel that their voices are being silenced based on the nature of the content they are releasing. The possibilities for remedying these concerns are limited, as the First Amendment expressly protects private companies from government censorship (including the requirement that they host specific content), but there are several potential paths forward that could have far-reaching implications for the future of social media content moderation.
Tick Tock for TikTok as Kids Addiction to App Grows
In June of this year, a new California bill, which allows social media companies to be sued by state government attorneys for having features that contribute to the addiction of children to their apps, cleared the state Senate. The bill was originally brought to California’s state assembly as one that would permit parents to sue social media giants for up to $25,000 per violation but was later amended after lobbying from business and tech-industry groups. The worry that social media is able to exploit children through ads, notifications, and other features in the design that are promoting addiction has amplified since the premiere of 2020 documentary, “The Social Dilemma.” Since then, the warning that regulation was looming has quickly turned into actual movement towards regulating the actions of social media companies. The bill has since failed, a disappointing end to an initiative that could have made a real change towards keeping social media giants in check.
A Case for Regulating Facebook
Recently, whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before a Senate subcommittee that Facebook has been deliberately putting its own profits before users’ safety. As Facebook’s former product manager for civic misinformation, Haugen calls for federal regulation of social media platforms and asserts that Facebook will not solve what she calls a “crisis” of deliberately ignoring users’ wellbeing for the sake of its own profits without Congress’s help. She points to tobacco, automobiles, and opioids, stating that when it became clear that those products were harming people, the government took action.
Demonetize the Children
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“the Act”), enacted in 1938, protects public and private employees with a federal minimum wage, requirements for overtime pay, and youth employment standards. Despite protections established for children under the Act, children in the entertainment industry are expressly excluded from its protections. Instead, minors in the entertainment industry must rely on state regulation of their employment, which is often stricter and more protective than the Act. However, there is a massive loophole in that the entertainment industry in most states does not include child influencers and social media stars. With the increase in social media in the last decade, children in the social media sector are left in limbo about their rights and employment protections. State entertainment laws for minors must be extended to include the fast-growing number of children growing up in social media fame.
Virtual Influencers Leave Unanswered Questions on FTC Act Compliance
Thanks to the continued prominence of social media in people’s daily lives, it is no surprise that more familiar marketing strategies such as celebrity product endorsements would update for the current era. Recently, social media advertising has practically entered the realm of science fiction with the introduction of computer-generated influencers. These avatars are created to sell, but who is responsible if they fail to comply with advertising laws?
Social Media Sweepstakes: As Easy as Reposting or Liking?
Sunny Co Clothing posted a photo of a woman wearing a red swimsuit with a caption reading “EVERYONE that reposts and tags us in this picture within the next 24 HOURS will receive a FREE Pamela Sunny Suit” – along with other applicable rules. Instagram went crazy with thousands of reposts. The following day, Sunny Co Clothing posted a second photo stating that they had the right to cap the promotion if they so choose. Many people, myself included, questioned how this retraction was possible. Could it be as simple as reposting an Instagram photo and tagging the company to receive a $64.99 swimsuit for free? The answer is yes, but with a caveat. One must follow the federal sweepstakes laws, applicable sweepstakes laws of the participants’ home states, and the governing rules of all the social medial platforms where the post appears. Easy, right?
How Native Advertising is Changing the PR Industry and the Way Corporations Interact with Consumers
Nearly 40% of publishers using native advertising are not compliant with the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) guidelines; this figure has improved from one year ago, when only 30% of users were following the guidelines. In 2017 alone, the FTC estimates that the revenue generated from native advertising will total $20.9 billion, with an estimated 610 new advertisers each month this number is projected to increase to $59 billion in 2018. The number of corporations using native advertising has increased over the years because of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where much of the in-feed content is paid or sponsored.