161 votes

Can a public school in the USA force a 14yr old to create a Twitter account for a passing grade?

You say: the school expects him to create a public Twitter account, with his real information, in order to promote the program & the results of the program. This is a cut-and-dried case of ...
Paul Johnson's user avatar
  • 13.5k
84 votes
Accepted

What is the legal distinction between Twitter banning Trump and Trump blocking individuals?

Trump was an officer of the government, and Twitter wasn't. The First Amendment forbids the government and its agents from viewpoint discrimination, but private companies are not bound by it and can ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
69 votes

Can a public school in the USA force a 14yr old to create a Twitter account for a passing grade?

I think some of the answers are good but taking a long approach. Much easier approach: Student: "I can't do the assignment." Teacher: "Why?" Student: "Twitter won't let me sign-up" Teacher: "...
blankip's user avatar
  • 1,059
35 votes

Can a public school in the USA force a 14yr old to create a Twitter account for a passing grade?

I would suggest reaching out to the ACLU in addition to the EFF on the matter as the school could be in violation of multiple constitutional rights by compelling the student's participation on Twitter....
hszmv's user avatar
  • 23k
29 votes
Accepted

Why did the Supreme Court vacate the ruling that Trump could not block Twitter users?

The case was appealed and taken by SCOTUS. Then the case became moot: Trump was banned from Twitter for life, his account permanently suspended. As the Twitter account that was the core of the ...
Trish's user avatar
  • 38.7k
20 votes

Why did the Supreme Court vacate the ruling that Trump could not block Twitter users?

The Supreme Court has a lot of things they can do in theory, but in reality, there are only two options the Court likely considered: One was to simply dismiss the writ of certiorari as improvidently ...
David Schwartz's user avatar
19 votes

What is the legal distinction between Twitter banning Trump and Trump blocking individuals?

An analogy. I own a meeting hall. I rent it out to the US Forest Service, who frequently has public hearings on matters of policy e.g. whether to open a sector for logging or recreation, seal up ...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
14 votes

I need my twitter deleted

I do not have the phone number, email, or anything else associated with the account. Well, neither do I - so it must be my account. Unfortunately, the fact that you appear in most or all of the ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 208k
13 votes

I need my twitter deleted

When they refuse to give you control over the account because you can not (or they don't let you) prove that it's your account, then another option would be to report it as involuntary pornography of ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 7,346
12 votes

Are private social-media companies violating our Free Speech rights?

Is this illegal? No, subject to some possible narrow exceptions discussed below. Do the social media companies have a duty under the First Amendment to not censor users? No. Indeed, usually, ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 210k
11 votes

Can a public school in the USA force a 14yr old to create a Twitter account for a passing grade?

This will be a very likely legal victory, but a potentially hard legal path. This is wrong for a bunch of factors. The downside is there's a lot of interesting legal exploration to do here, and some &...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
11 votes

What is the legal distinction between Twitter banning Trump and Trump blocking individuals?

The main reason for this asymmetry is, as the other answers say, that Twitter is a private company and Trump was a government official. It is a little more subtle, in that Twitter is not a regulated ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 215k
8 votes
Accepted

Is it legal to use movie frames for creating gifs and using it in mobile apps

I presume from the fact that you mention "fair use" that you're interested in United States law. In that case, the answer is a clear-cut "no". 17 USC 107: Notwithstanding the ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 6,380
8 votes
Accepted

Can I sue a government agency for removing Facebook comments?

As I understand it, you can pretty much sue anybody for anything. The question, of course, is would you win the suit? All the lawyers here can correct me, but I believe in order to win, you would ...
Ron Trunk's user avatar
  • 1,500
7 votes
Accepted

Can an employer force an employee to have a social media account and put their current employment information on the profile?

I can't find any law that would prevent an employer from requiring this. Under current Florida law, an employer can even demand passwords and access to an employee's social media accounts. A bill ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
7 votes

"diamond" ♦ moderators and the law of agency

Stack Exchange has given moderators certain authorizations or powers, but that does not automatically make them agents. The specific provision in the agreement that they are not agents would make it ...
David Siegel's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

How does copyright over content that is not behind paywalled content work?

Exactly the same way it works over all other content There are no special classes of copyright, there’s just copyright. What a user of a service may do with copyright materials will be spelled out in ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 208k
6 votes

As a customer, am i liable for messaging another customer found on a Facebook business page?

GDPR compliance is a matter between every customer and the business, not between different customers. How did you get the other customer's contact details? If they were provided or leaked by the ...
amon's user avatar
  • 23.9k
6 votes
Accepted

What laws allow social media companies to "choose" who to serve, but not brick-and-mortar business?

One law is 42 U.S.C. §2000a (a)All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public ...
George White's user avatar
  • 12.7k
6 votes

What would be the sequence of events necessary in order for social media websites to be considered common carriers?

However, what would be the actual, concrete events that must happen for [common carrier classification] to happen? Congress would have to pass such laws, since social media platforms are currently ...
amon's user avatar
  • 23.9k
6 votes

What legal protections are there for moderators of social media who view child pornography when it is referred to them?

Section 230 (of Title 47) grants immunity from civil liability under certain circumstances, so the website is not liable to the porn-distributor for taking down their images. There are also criminal ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 215k
5 votes

Can a platform become a publisher through it's actions?

Yes. Content not created by a user is not protected by Section 230, and if the platform agents or employees begin to substantively edit content, the platform becomes a co-author rather than merely a ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 210k
5 votes

Are Discord bots allowed to store deleted messages and let people view them?

It may be legal or it may not For example, if any of the users are in the European Union, then the GDPR applies and the person storing the information is a data controller and has legal obligations. ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 208k
5 votes
Accepted

What specific law is broken if the merchant continue to charge the customer's card after the customer disabled his account?

The fact that the terms and conditions do not mention the word "disable" is significant, but not in the way you seem to think. You state: "...the merchant's T&C which does not ...
Michael Hall's user avatar
  • 4,353
5 votes

Judges barring defendants from using social media

The NYT article implies that she has used social media in the past to get her victims to believe her fake back story. She is being released from detention, and the restriction on her using social ...
serencog's user avatar
  • 571
5 votes

How does copyright over content that is not behind paywalled content work?

Copyright law is about what you are legally allowed to do. What you are physically capable of doing is totally unrelated. The fact that you can access something without anything stopping you or trying ...
gnasher729's user avatar
5 votes

Are social media TOS invalid because lack of due process and mutuality creates an unenforceable illusory contract?

No Contracts are not bound by due process. Due process is a rule of how a lawsuit has to be handled, not how a contract is to be handled. All the Due Process clauses in the US constitution simply don'...
Trish's user avatar
  • 38.7k
5 votes
Accepted

Why is it really bad to publicly talk about a case you are involved in on social media?

It's a bit like talking to the police: anything you say might be used against you, so the conventional wisdom is to say nothing. It is a good rule of thumb. When you are paying a professional to ...
sjy's user avatar
  • 9,163
4 votes

Did CNN blackmail a private citizen?

TL;DNR: Blackmail seems straightforward, but it's not. It depends so much on the specific facts of the case that we need an expert to find out how this case would turn out. A somewhat longer take: ...
Just a guy's user avatar
  • 8,428

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible