By: Nicholas Tagg TikTok is among the most popular social media platforms worldwide. The site is recognized for its continually updated trending content, including dance challenges, life hacks/tips, and cute animal videos users never knew they needed. It delivers endless hours of content tailored to your preferences, better than any other app. TikTok boasts… Read More TikTok: National Security Threat or Not?
By: Anamaria Pananas Last year, Target was reported to lose $500 million from retail theft. This year, in an effort to increase surveillance at self-checkout machines, Target adopted a new technology called “TruScan”, which uses cameras to detect items and alert the customer of items that have not been scanned. Self-checkout stations across the nation… Read More Target “Targets” Theft with New Surveillance Technology – Denies Allegations of Collecting its Customers’ Facial Recognition Data
By: Allison Nickerson Social media and music operate in tandem; platforms now serve many purposes for artists including marketing and promoting their music. New artists are able to use social media platforms to market themselves more efficiently due to the affordable nature and global reach of social media. Platforms such as Instagram and YouTube allow… Read More Universal Music Group Silencing the Music
By: Meg Apostolides In today’s digital age, the childhood experience has undergone a profound transformation, largely due to the proliferation of social media platforms. This digital landscape has given rise to a new breed of public figures known as “influencers,” people who have adeptly cultivated their personal brands and amassed sizeable followings. The unprecedented access… Read More Empowering “Kidfluencers:” Illinois’ Law Ensures Financial Security and Privacy Protection in the Digital Age
By: Anthony Aceto On September 29, 2023 the Supreme Court granted the certiorari petition for the dual cases of NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, LLC. These cases concern a seminal development of First Amendment application to social media platforms. These cases address the issue of whether a social media platform’s content moderation… Read More Publisher or Platform?¬¬– A Decision May Finally be Reached
By: Kaylie Scalze The European Parliament passed the Digital Services Act (DSA) in July 2022, requiring several major tech conglomerates to implement stricter safeguards on their online markets, social networks, and content-sharing platforms. The DSA recently began fully applying to all VLOPs (Very Large Online Platforms) within the European Union. Companies like Meta, Google, TikTok, and… Read More The European Union’s Digital Services Act and its Impact on Digital Marketing
By: Allison Nickerson Social media allows everyday people to freely practice their First Amendment rights by sharing their ideas and beliefs. While these platforms allow for free expression, healthy debate, and discourse, there is a limitation to the conduct that is allowed. This limitation existed from the inception of social media and is present… Read More Balancing Free Speech and Preventing Hate Speech in the Digital Age
By: Molly Codeanne The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, is scheduled to appear before a congressional committee in March. TikTok has faced many allegations concerning sharing U.S. users’ data with the Chinese Communist Party. The chairs of the committee want Americans to be informed with respect to how TikTok’s actions and functions affect individuals’… Read More TikTok CEO’s Plans to Appear Before Congress
By: Theodore Brothers Social media has completely transformed the way we communicate with one another, but it has also now transformed the way that investors view the stock market. There is no purer example of this than the trial that began in mid-January 2023 concerning Elon Musk and the long-reaching effects of a series of… Read More The Increasing Influence of Social Media on the Stock Market
By: Erin Howlin On November 13, at around 4 am, four college students were murdered in their rental home in Moscow, Idaho. Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin. While the small town of Idaho was devastated over the loss of their classmates, family members, sister, brother, and friend, many were concerned since… Read More Social Media & The Investigation of the Idaho Murders
By: Katie LePage Over the past few years, society has witnessed social media transform into a double-edged sword; on one hand, platforms provide users with an outlet to express themselves, on the other hand, they can be extremely harmful to users’ mental health. For some social media users, their brains receive a release of dopamine when… Read More The Silent Killer: How Social Media is Harming Your Mental Health
By: Kendall Casey Heart pumping, gory but intriguing, can barely listen, but also cannot get enough. True crime media is any media that explores the details of actual crimes, including films, podcasts, publications, and TV. It includes produced shows as well as news and social media coverage of prominent trials. From the Gabby Petito and… Read More True Crime’s True Impact: Advocacy or Exploitation?
By: Katie LePage As you’re lying in bed scrolling through social media, do you ever wonder how the pair of shoes you googled last week appeared in your Instagram feed? Well, that is because platforms, such as Instagram, have embedded algorithms in their systems to identify user’s interests and provide them with similar suggestions that will… Read More Are Social Media Algorithms Promoting Harmful Conduct?
By: Casey Reilly Whether you occasionally scroll through videos on your “For You” page, create content of your own, or avoid downloading the app altogether, chances are that you have heard a thing or two about TikTok. This video sharing app has quite literally captured the interest of teenagers and lawmakers alike – albeit, for… Read More TikTok Privacy Concerns: What Are They Really About?
By: Lily Keene Increasingly, digital products are now a part of everyday life, opening the door to a new era of marketing. With the growing popularity of social media platforms, many companies have shifted to various forms of digital marketing, including using social media “influencers” to curate promotional content for their brands. Utilizing TikTok trends… Read More Vicarious Copyright Infringement Through Social Media Marketing
By: Annabelle Hentz Resident “cool girl” Hailey Bieber launched her first ever skincare line, “rhode,” this past summer. While her launch was met with excitement from her almost 50 million Instagram followers, it was also welcomed with a trademark infringement lawsuit. Less than a week after its launch, New York based fashion line RHODE (herein “RHODE-NYC”),… Read More Hailey Bieber: On the Rhode to Continuing Trademark Infringement
By: Molly Codeanne Parents always tell their children that what they say, post, like, and share on social media sticks around forever and can have unintended consequences down the line if you are not careful. Judges must heed this advice and exercise heightened caution when engaging in social media as the courts have disqualified more… Read More Judges’ Presence on Social Media: Dangers of Posting, Liking, and Sharing
By: Erin Howlin “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” Thomas Jefferson uttered these words when America was newly freed and a democracy was just being born, however, these words remain true today. In the spring of 2022, Elon Musk offered Twitter $44 billion dollars… Read More Deal or No Deal: Constitutional Rights and Elon’s Big Plan
“Influencers” existed long before the term was even coined, but there has been a strong mystery surrounding them for years. Many individuals ask, what do they do all day? How do you become one? Is it as glamorous as it seems? There are many hypothetical answers, and misconceptions but there are real answers to them. Being an influencer is becoming a huge trend, but this industry comes with a lot of baggage.… Read More Day in The Life of a Social Media Influencer
This blog explores Twitter’s suspension and eventual permanent removal of Donald Trump’s account after severely violating Twitter’s policy on civic integrity and safety measures. Furthermore, this blog explores whether or not the suspension and removal of his account violated his First Amendment rights, as wildly speculated throughout the media. Lastly, this blog discusses the power and responsibility of social media companies to police internet speech, and to what extent this censorship may reach without the infringing of users’ rights.… Read More 280 Characters of Pure Chaos: The Debate of First Amendment Rights on Social Media