Social Media and the Law Essay Example

Since it is a dating site, it is ok than only individuals who are 18 years of age and above are allowed to open accounts. They do not however have a means of verifying the age of their users, thus having a gap that may enable even young individuals to open an account as it is done through Facebook which doesn’t have restrictions on age and where individuals may not indicate their real age.

Individuals with wrong intentions may use the site to their advantage to carry out illegal acts such as sexually abuse their potential matches should they decide to meet up. Since the service does not carry out background checks on their users, whether their users are compatible with each other and the fact that they not responsible for the behavior of users, this may create room for criminals carry out their plans. I tend to think that more stringent measures and laws should be imposed on the site to ensure that only individuals with clean background can be able to open an account through the site.

Tinder service is not meant for non-commercial use, but only for personal use. Users are not allowed to share information of other users for whatever reasons be it for advertisements or influencing them in buying or selling products that are not authorized by the company. This is ethically correct as users don’t have to worry that their information may be used without their consent such as done in other social media platforms such as Facebook. Users are exclusively responsible for their dealings with other users. As much as this is a dating site, individuals ought to be careful

on what they post and with whom they interact with just to be safe as the company is not liable for their behavior.

Tinder is somehow different from other relationships on social media and out of social media platforms. With tinder, only the persons you have liked can communicate and make contact with you unlike other sites where anyone can chat with you irrespective of whether they are your friends or not. The app has different packages which are paid for at different prices compared to other social media apps which, when installed one just communicates with their friends. The more advanced the app the more swipes one is able to get which is very different from other social media apps. It facilitates meeting of men and women, but not that good as it encourages men to have a false entitlement to sex with women.

Many guys are not able to start up conversations once they have paired up with their matches, leaving one with very many matches with no conversation. Unlike other sites that are based on creating friends, the service mainly focuses on sex with many men opening the account only for quick lookups and nothing serious. Due to the many matches one may have, it is difficult to focus on one person and if one is serious about finding a mate, they have to be focused. Just like all other social media platforms, the site is addictive and one has to be responsible or else they will find themselves spending all their time online which has its own implications.

Social media has the ability to bring people together, news, current trends and best business practices

in social and digital marketing. In my social media environment, I am slightly different from the way people outside social media know me. Most social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter are meant for creating friends with different people. The interactions should be fun and not supposed to be an account of one’s life. Most of the friends are unknown to many users and it may not be ideal to post about a person’s whole truth just for safety reasons as such information may be shared by one's friends without their knowledge which to me is not ethically right.

So in whatever one post on social media they just have to be careful as what they post at some point may be used against them. I very much like creating fictionalized persona just to see how different people react. In most cases, depending on what's posted reactions from people who don’t know me personally may be harsh and rude, and for those who know me will understand what am trying to put across. I may have read an article or news that to my knowledge does not seem right. I may post that just to get different views from different people so as to get their standpoint on the same which may help me gauge how people think with respect to certain issues that affect society. On a scale of one to ten I would appraise my level of honesty at 6.

There are a lot of ethical standards that are violated in different social media platforms. This may include violations of privacy rights, defamation of one’s reputation, and creation of contracts that are binding among others. Personally,

I am a very upright person and a violation of any ethical standards that may be set on the different platforms is not among my agenda. I believe in honesty and integrity. Unless am sure of the credibility of what am to post, I don’t post as I know that it may bring about consequences which may not be desirable and which I may have avoided.

On sites like Facebook, users have no possession over the contents that they post. Facebook and advertising companies use users’ online personal information to generate a picture of their way of life. With this information the company, Facebook, is able to meet its goal of serving advertisements that are tailor made to the needs and lifestyle of all their users. With reference to privacy, Facebook does not have any laws governing its usage.

The policy of Facebook on the use of data obliges their users to grant the company the right to access and use their information for purposes of advertisements. Users therefore have no control over their information and different people can view their posts and photos without their approval. This is ethically incorrect as it infringes on the privacy rights of their users. Many Facebook users share personal information some of which are very sensitive. The lack of privacy enables different users to share ones information without their knowledge as there are no notifications that alerts them when their info is used by other people. Depending on the information shared, the site has the ability to destroy one's reputation without them even realizing.

The information shared can also be used against the users by agencies concerned with law enforcement to

obtain information on individuals who avoid taxation and other misconducts (Bartsch&Dienlin 2016, p. 149). With regards to employment, the partnership between Facebook and the Department of Labor has facilitated the connection of many people searching for jobs with pertinent companies. This has however also seen companies that are falsely registered to take advantage of innocent job seekers which require them to make payments before being considered for interviews. The lack of stringent security and privacy measures may subject the users of Facebook to be exploited by different people.

Facebook has personal information that belongs to millions of users having their accounts. It is therefore their responsibility to secure this information. Facebook critics are of the opinion that such vast amounts of information at their disposal need a lot of security and privacy measures than the ones currently being offered by Facebook. Facebook has previously violated privacy rights which raised fears of its ability to handle the large amounts of its user’s information. There are no laws governing Facebook thus users ought to be careful about what they write or post lest it be used against them. Many of the features and services in Facebook are automatically enabled during their launch without informing the users. The worth and growth ability of Facebook is determined by its success in influencing the personal data it has gathered from its users to draw sellers. Lack of privacy in Facebook is beneficial to it and will do away with the many issues raised by users to their own advantage.

The company was charged in 2012 for lying to its users that their information was safe which was not true as it allowed

their information to be shared publicly. This forced them to get the permission of its users before altering their private preferences, and to submit private audits twice a year for 20 years by a firm that is independent. Groups advocating for privacy rights are pressuring Facebook to reinstate its previous security settings that were more robust and give their users access to the information they keep. The groups have also accused Facebook for getting information on users even if they are not online and people who do not have Facebook accounts(Bartsch&Dienlin 2016, p.151).
Facebook's policy on data use conditions users using the service to give the company permission to use their information whenever need be. Facebook users feel challenged about the lack of control of their information regardless of the complaint by users and inspection from the government.

The Graph Search program by Facebook enables different Facebook users to view ones' photos even without their consent. One does not have control over who sees their photos. The program creates new pages having the search results which give Facebook more avenues for selling advertisements thus benefiting from its users' activities (Bartsch&Dienlin 2016, p. 154). This poses a great ethical dilemma to its users as it infringes on their privacy rights. Their content can be shared by anyone at any time without their consent, and without them knowing. The company has a lot of data on their database which include data that is based on text and photos. Law enforcers and other companies use this database to amass users profile to use in advertisements.

Facebook in another settlement case in 2012 allowed its users to choose its Sponsored Stories features

that enable users to have control over the information that could be viewed by their friends for advertisement. The feature was however removed in 2014 by Facebook after it received many lawsuits, settlement, cases and reproach from groups advocating for privacy rights.

Another issue with the use of Facebook is cyberstalking. Most users on their profile include telephone numbers, email address, and other information that is personal. Such kind of information when put on pages that are public subjects the user to stalkers by those who may have access to their details. There is the option to block certain people from one information, but many users have their privacy setting as public while some do not have the idea of how to restrict their content to other users(Lipschultz 87). Apart from cyberstalking, there is also the issue of cyberbullying that has been on the increase in the past years and which have received attention from the media.

Most teens that are victims of cyberbullying are emotionally and psychologically affected which impact on how they relate with other people. Some teenagers unable to handle the bullying may be inclined to commit suicide. Cyberbullying may not be easily identified as it may be accomplished through many forms. Messages meant to bully other individuals may be sent through inbox or posted on their walls. Pages may also be created that belittle or spread rumors about certain individuals though not permitted.

Pictures that are compromising or humiliating may be shared to embarrass the targeted people. This is unethical and defamatory as it tarnishes the reputation of other users. Most of the Facebook laws are just on paper and not functionally with regards

to the many issues affecting users. The company ought to enforce their terms of use to safeguard their users from harm.

Finally, it may be unethical for public prosecutors to have access to the profile of an individual’s social network that is protected through dishonesty for purposes of obtaining information on parties that are not represented(Jones 283). Employers also are not supposed to make their decisions on hiring based on what individual post on social media sites as this may lead to lawsuits based on discrimination. As much as there is freedom of speech in networking sites, users ought to be careful with what they post. A lot of people have lost their jobs based on what they post on social media. I also know of a scenario where a certain individual was fired on the first day of reporting to work based on what she had posted on Facebook after being confirmed for the work.

Users ought to be cautious before signing up to any social media platform. Before one signs up to a site, there are always terms and conditions that one must agree to before signing up. Many people normally sign up before reading what is contained in the terms. Users should be able to carefully read the terms so as to be on the knowhow of what the providers can do with the information they post to the site as well as the personal data required in the course of registration. They should also be able to identify whether the service is reliable or not and be able to have a back-up copy of what they post and share should need be. There

are data protection laws that safeguard one’s personal data which prohibits such information from being shared with the public.

Social media platforms have laws but they are not very much effective. Users therefore are to be watchful not to share personal information, publicly as they are not safe. Post made or comments on other people’s posts are public which can be viewed by other people. One should mind their language as whatever one rights can be used against them should they be not correct or offensive. Wordings that are not correct legally or ethically may incline individuals to be charged for defamation. Users are to consider what they write online as it may negatively impact on their reputation and those close to them.

Users may use their own judgement to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. In so doing, they will be helping them stay away from many issues that are uncalled for. A lot of information on the web is protected by copyright. Individuals do not have any legal right to copy the work of other people and post it publicly online. Doing so will lead to infringement of copyright. If ones find certain information to be useful, they ought to search for the terms of use before sharing in order to be granted the go ahead to do so. The best measure in utilizing any social media effectively is through upholding integrity and being honest in what one engages in.

Work cited

1. Bartsch, M, &Dienlin, T. 'Control your Facebook: An analysis of online privacy literacy', Computers In Human Behavior, 2016, 56, pp. 147-154,
2. Jones, Samuel Vincent. "Judges, Friends, And Facebook: The Ethics Of
   

Prohibition." Georgetown Journal Of Legal Ethics 24.2 (2011): 281-302.