http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/tech/social-media/facebook-likes-free-speech/index.html
I thought this article was super interesting. When I heard about it on the news, I had to go look it up because of our Media Law class. This definitely intrigued me because I had never thought about whether Facebook is protected under the First Amendment rights. It's interesting how the judges reversed their first ruling on the case where the employees were fired for liking their bosses opponent. The judges at first ruled the case saying that Facebook liking isn't protected under the constitution,, but now they have reversed it saying it falls right underneath the rights of "freedom of speech".
After reading this article, I thought about how companies look up people's Facebook and social media before hiring them. This made me question whether or not how they can be allowed to do this when it was considered to be "unconstitutional" just to like something on Facebook. I'm interested to see everyone's interpretation and opinion on this whole situation because as technology rapidly grows, to what extent does social media have? Especially when new applications come out, how much are they protected under freedom of speech? I also wonder if apps like Instagram and Vine can be considered freedom of speech or whether they fall under freedom of expression.
This has become a very hot button issue. My father was in a scenario where one of his employees was bad mouthing him on Facebook. While my father is not a Facebook user I am and was friends with this woman. I kept tabs on it for a month and then presented the findings to him. It was very hard for me because what she was saying was wrong and just mean. My father was able to keep his cool and talk to his boss and they ended up "letting her go". The most difficult part about it was the fact that he went to high school with this woman, recommended her for the position, and had been friends with her for many years. You cannot fire someone because of what they say on Facebook, however you can let them go on grounds of we are no longer in need of your position. It will be very interesting to see how these situations unfold as social media progresses. Great topic choice!!
ReplyDelete