Social Media in UK Law
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Re A (Capacity: Social Media and Internet Use: Best Interests)
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The first question on which I am asked to rule is whether, in undertaking a capacity assessment, internet and social media use should form a sub-set of a person's ability to make a decision about either ‘contact’ or ‘care’.
It seems to me that there are particular and unique characteristics of social media networking and internet use which distinguish it from other forms of contact and care; as I described above (see [4]), in the online environment there is significant scope for harassment, bullying, exposure to harmful content, sexual grooming, exploitation (in its many forms), encouragement of self-harm, access to dangerous individuals and/or information – all of which may not be so readily apparent if contact was in person.
The next question which arises is what is the ‘relevant information’ under section 3(1)(a) MCA 2005 on which the issue should be assessed? Although counsel in this case prepared an ‘agreed’ formula, I have had the benefit of wider argument on the issue in the two cases.
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Stocker v Stocker
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The fact that this was a Facebook post is critical. The advent of the 21st century has brought with it a new class of reader: the social media user. The judge tasked with deciding how a Facebook post or a tweet on Twitter would be interpreted by a social media user must keep in mind the way in which such postings and tweets are made and read.
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Zahir Monir v Steve Wood
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It is very important when assessing the meaning of a Tweet not to be over-analytical. Largely, the meaning that an ordinary reasonable reader will receive from a Tweet is likely to be more impressionistic than, say, from a newspaper article which, simply in terms of the amount of time that it takes to read, allows for at least some element of reflection and consideration. The essential message that is being conveyed by a Tweet is likely to be absorbed quickly by the reader.
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Jack Monroe v Katie Hopkins
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The most significant lessons to be drawn from the authorities as applied to a case of this kind seem to be the rather obvious ones, that this is a conversational medium; so it would be wrong to engage in elaborate analysis of a 140 character tweet; that an impressionistic approach is much more fitting and appropriate to the medium; but that this impressionistic approach must take account of the whole tweet and the context in which the ordinary reasonable reader would read that tweet.
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Bruno Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd
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I do not think I would be justified in accepting the defendants' submission that the absence of 'tangible' evidence of adverse responses to publication indicates that the true position lies towards the 'Macfarlane' end of the spectrum, or that those who did read the offending words were unaffected by it. Mr Macfarlane is evidently a good friend of the claimant, who was confident enough to trust him over the publishers on a matter of this kind.
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Finance Act 2020
... ... Employment income and social security income ... 7: Workers' services provided through intermediaries ... (2) “Digital services activity” means providing—(a) a social media service,(b) an internet search engine, or(c) an online marketplace ... ...
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Digital Economy Act 2017
... ... -being,(b) the contribution made by them to society, and(c) their social and economic well-being ... (12) The third condition is that the ... 93(3) omitted (1.11.2020) by virtue of The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1062), regs. 1(2), 52 ... 94: ... ...
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Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021
... ... to safeguard and promote their well-being under section 109 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4) ... (3) In this ... members of the principal council of the benefits of using social media to communicate with local people ... (3) A public participation strategy ... ...
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Data Protection Act 2018
... ... the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of the individual ... (4) “Processing”, in relation to ... 177: Guidance about how to seek redress against media organisations ... (1) The Commissioner must produce and publish guidance ... ...
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Investigating employee harassment via social media
Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of investigation of employee harassment via social media to develop best practices to help organisations conduct such investigations m...
- Police communications and social media
- Police communications and social media
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Social media application in digital libraries
Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applications of social media in digital libraries and identify related problems. Design/methodology/approach: – A total of ten institutio...
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Social media in litigation
A high profile libel claim for defamatory statements made on Twitter provides a study on how to apply the law of defamation in the social media age and highlights risks (and opportunities) that lit...
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AIM disclosure and social media
AIM Regulation has published guidance on the interaction between social media and other forms of electronic communication (e.g. Twitter, the AIM company's website, a non-regulatory news feed) and a...
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UK: The Latest Social Media Legal Updates
In our May 30, 2012 post on the Socially Aware blog—“Should We All Be Getting the Twitter “Jitters”? Be Careful What You Say Online (Particularly in the United Kingdom)”—we considered a variety of ...
- Social Media Dismissals
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Provide supplemental information when making or responding to allegations of harm and domestic violence
Standard directions forms under the Children Act.... ... “Development” means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development ... “Health” means physical or mental ... the order, by any means, including ... social media (text messages, ... Facebook etc.) ... The diferent types of orders that ... ...