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 »
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 »
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 »
North Carolina wants to ban students from signing up their teachers for online porn sites or engaging in other forms of cyber-bullying aimed at school officials. Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Internet censorship is once again in the news after a federal judge posited a proposed Washington law aiming to prevent child prostitution is likely unconstitutional under the Communications Decency Act. A bigger question is why free speech still reigns online except when copyright is involved. Read more »
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 »
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 at paidContent »
As general counsel for Avvo, Josh King has responded to hundreds of lawsuit threats — all for activity that is soundly protected by the First Amendment. Here, King outlines three areas where he believes companies can take a stand to protect free speech on the Internet. 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 at paidContent »
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 at paidContent »
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 at paidContent »
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 at paidContent »
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 at paidContent »
Police across the country have been arresting people for taping them with cellphones, but a recent decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals makes it clear that such behavior is protected by the First Amendment, and that people doing this are effectively acting as journalists. 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 at paidContent »
It seems totalitarian states like Egypt aren’t the only ones struggling with the impact of social media and the desire to muzzle services like Twitter and Facebook. Britain says it’s considering a ban on social media in the wake of the riots in London. Read more »
The story of Wikileaks hosting its Cablegate data on Amazon EC2 strikes me on so many levels. As a journalist, American citizen, and soon-to-be J.D., I’ve thought about freedom of speech, and I’m flabbergasted that Wikileaks hosted the site with a U.S. provider on U.S. soil. Read more »
