Social Media Law Blog

US Congress launches Big Tech Antitrust Probe The federal government is warming up its antitrust enforcement machine and is likely to be in the first stages of a ‘top-to-bottom review of the market power’ and is pointing it at the giant tech platforms – Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple. The anti-trust probe has been initiated […]

In the UK, there are no specific laws to shield social media companies from being held accountable for the material which is published on their platforms. The courts, however, have largely allowed them to get away with claims that they are not “publishers” but only provide

The government will eventually, like it or not, police the internet. This is inevitable. The recently published White Paper which warned internet companies very clearly of its intention to set up a new internet regulator is an indication of what social media companies should expect to see in the future. How powerful this regulator will be, will largely depend on how genuine social media companies’ effort to combat intolerance, prevent self-harm and decrease the amount of fake news is.

Bloomberg have reported that Vodafone had discovered ‘hidden back doors’ in Huawei’s home equipment, including an internet router in 2009/2010, that would allow the Chinese company unauthorised access to user’s home and business fixed line networks in Italy. Vodafone has admitted vulnerabilities, which were identified by independent security testing initiated by Vodafone as part of […]

Internet police author Yair Cohen says I am often asked, how much of a responsibility do we as internet users have, to police the internet ourselves and decide whether we are going to watch certain images or share horror films of live events. After all, the more we share the more we encourage others to commit social media atrocities.
This is a very interesting question. It is easy to blame us, the people, for our part in watching and sharing horrific images via social media. At the same time, people should not be judged too harshly in this regard because after all, we are only human. When we see something that is shocking, something t

Why is it that people feel that they can say what they want about people on the internet that they wouldn’t necessarily say to someone’s face?. It broadly goes back to the early days of the internet, where there was a perception that the internet was outside the scope of regulations and policing. It was […]

This week, Yair Cohen was interviewed on Al Jazeera TV and was asked by the host: ‘Do you think that the expectations of the egalitarian nature of the internet were too high?’ Yair: ‘I think that the internet, in the early days, was seen almost as an anarchistic place. The idea of the bureaucracy meant […]

Google is not the sole decision makers of whether you can have information about you removed from the internet under a right to be forgotten. People should not give up so quickly with their applications to remove links from the internet

Katie Price is certainly a controversial figure who doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. But does this necessarily make her a fair target to online abuse?

She doesn’t think so and i’m supporting her. Katie Price and her children have been suffering from online abuse and harassment far before many members of Parliament started to recognised online harassment and abuse as an issue worth discussing.

To fully understand Google’s culpability, we need to understand Google’s age restrictions policies in relation to YouTube and in relation to Google’s mobile phone operating system Android, which accounts to about 80% of the of the new mobile phone sales and which is where most YouTube videos are being watched.

So, starting with YouTube age restriction policy, and this is this is very important, Google’s officially says that YouTube users must be either 18 years sold, or 13 y

Moving away from self-policing does not necessarily mean the creation of ‘thought police’ or a ‘snooping unit’, but rather it is intended to make people feel safer online and bring our police into the twenty-first century.

Data collection by social media companies and the misuse of it have been making rounds in the news recently. People love social media because it serves as a platform for free speech and helps them connect with one another.

The digital community is coming to earth and rules here may now apply in the online society. How will this change the interactive community? Should you be worried?

Internet lawyer Yair Cohen said that Facebook relies on its hugely complicated, ever changing terms and conditions, which it knows nobody reads. Consent needs to be of clear and coherent and informed and anyone who ever tried to look at any of Facebook’s terms and conditions or tried to change the settings of Facebook privacy settings will know that its terms and conditions are anything but coherent and clear.

Harassment lawyer Yair Cohen took on the case after the police would not help for nearly 13 years. Paul Currant and Currant Consulting have agreed to pay damages to the their victim and also to pay her legal costs. They also agreed to never harass her again in an order which was approved by the court.