Blog 2 - Legal Implications of Social Media

               Every day millions of people log into social networking sites to voice their opinion about anything and everything under the sun. We enjoy the ability to share information and our thoughts with a world audience in fractions of a second. We, as a free nation, enjoy being able to voice our opinions on anything and everything we please. Instead of actually using a verbally spoken language, we resort to online posts. The United States Constitution guarantees our right to free speech and every day millions of American’s enjoy that right. Our court system has been inundated with cases surrounding issues of free speech and privacy. Now, our court system has been forced to enter into a brand new arena. The concept of social media is a brand new phenomenon facing our nation today, being only a decade old. The founding fathers of our country could not fathom a socially connected world and therefore our constitution is not prepared to address such an issue. From a Criminal Justice standpoint, the most important issues arise when attempting to deal with cases involving the First and Fourth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments have largely not been evaluated to protect our rights as citizens in an online environment.

 In 2009, one Sheriff’s deputy in Virginia logged into his Facebook page and, just like any other day, voiced his opinion. That deputy no longer works for the Hampton, Virginia Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Daniel Ray Carter Jr. was fired for “liking” his boss’ political opponent’s Facebook page. Daniel Carter Jr. took his case to court claiming that the “like” of the page is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.  Judge Raymond A. Jackson of the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk disagreed. The Federal Judge ruled against Daniel Carter stating that “Merely 'liking' a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection (Hudson Jr.)” This was a huge blow to the millions of Facebook users in the United States and sent a stern message to users across the globe. The problem is that Carter did not actually “say” anything.  Free speech protects exactly that; speech. With more and more people expressing themselves online, the implication of such a case could result in complete censorship of expression. Free speech advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union disagree with the Judge’s ruling stating that the “like” button actually says the word “like” and contains a “thumbs up” which is an obvious symbol of expression. They state that this is an obvious form of expression and is therefore protected. Facebook even chimed in and stating that “liking” a political candidate on Facebook is the 21^st century equivalent to placing a campaign sign in your front yard (Gross). This case will continue to be debated over the next few years and ultimately the court system will determine if the Facebook “like” button is an act of free expression. This is a small case that will have lasting social implications. It is the beginning of a process that will be finely tuned over the next few decades as the social networking phenomenon will continue to progress and evolve. While we wait to discover the fate of the Facebook “like” button and its relation to free speech, another battle is being waged against social media and its protections under the fourth amendment.

“Existing Fourth Amendment doctrine is ill-equipped to handle the convergence of the public and the private (Petrashek)” and as a general rule, one loses all privacy expectations in what is shared with the world. When an individual makes a post to an online networking site or blog, they relinquish all rights to having that information remain private. Thus, anything they write can be used against them in any subsequent criminal or civil proceeding. Though this tension between constitutional doctrine and social practice has yet to play a major part in the courts, it may soon do so. With social networking users at an all-time high, the crimes associated with it are also increasing exponentially as more people are at risk of being victimized. Because the internet largely does not protect an individual’s right to privacy, law enforcement has largely unrestricted access to necessary information turning social networking into a crime fighting tool. In January 2012, a group of Arizona men, including a Peoria, Arizona police sergeant, triggered a federal investigation when they appeared in a photo posted on Facebook. In that photo the men were posing with weapons and what appeared to be an image of President Barack Obama that was riddled with bullet holes.  The Sheriff’s office put the Sergeant on desk duty pending an internal investigation and the United States Secret service launched a federal investigation into a potential threat against the President of the United States (Donna Leinwand). That photo was obtained from the social networking site without a warrant and can be used against the subjects in a subsequent criminal proceeding. All across the United States law enforcement officials are looking at these social networking sites and using them to solve crimes and prevent other crimes from occurring.

According to a news article on CBS in Chicago in January 2012, six individuals were charged by police in connection with a brutal beating that was posted to website ‘YouTube.com’. In California, an individual is wanted for reckless driving and speeding after he posted a video of his 118 mph ride on a California freeway to ‘Youtube.com’.  These are all cases involving police being able to use social media to hold those responsible of crimes accountable for their actions. Social media is a powerful tool for police and they will continue to use it as such. The police should not have their ability to use social networking sites infringed and should continue to be allowed to use it as an effective crime fighting tool as long as perpetrators are stupid enough to make their crimes public.

The future of online privacy acts and fourth amendment protection as it pertains to social media is unclear at this point. Without a doubt Congress and the higher courts within the United States will be facing these areas of concern. The enactment of federal regulation can be an extremely long and grueling process and by the time it occurs, social networking could have already evolved. Though some of the issues are currently being discussed, such as the case of the Facebook “like” button, they are limited in the nature to which they are being discussed. The right to free speech in social media is being discussed as it pertains to the simple clicking of a picture of a thumb but the issue is much larger than that. This is a prime example of the limited nature of social media issues and how they are being addressed. Most of the proposals and issues have nothing to do with Facebook postings or other misuse of digital data, yet that is where most of the concern is and what is important to us an a society. Many intellectuals agree that there seems to be momentum within government institutions and criminal justice agencies and many new policies may be rolled out in the near future. Until then, we as a society are going to take to those very social networking sites and warn each other about the ramifications of this new online environment (Pike).

Works Cited

Donna Leinwand, Leger, and TODAY USA. "Internet creates wider venue for political incivility, threats." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2012.

Gross, Doug. "Virginia deputy fights his firing over a Facebook 'like'." CNN [Richmond, Virginia] 01 Aug 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/10/tech/social-media/deputy-fired-facebook-like/index.html>.

Hudson Jr., David L. "Like' Is Unliked." ABA Journal 98.9 (2012): 23-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

Petrashek, Nathan. "The Fourth Amendment and the Brave New World of Online Social Networking." Marquette Law Review. 93.4 (2010): 1-36. Print. <http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5029&context=mulr>.

PIKE, GEORGE H. "LEGAL ISSUES. Online Privacy Protection Gaining Momentum." Information Today 28.5 (2011): 28. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.

Song, Susannah, perf. "7 Teens Charged In Brutal Attack Captured On YouTube." CBS Chicago. CBS Local MEdia: 2, Chicago, 18 JAN 2012. Television. <http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/18/7-teens-charged-in-brutal-attack-captured-on-youtube/>.