This discourse seeks to address the place of social media in the legal fraternity. The paper, essentially seeks to address the freedom of speech vis a vis the place of social media as far as the freedom of speech is concerned. The vital question that this paper seeks to address is; are citizens accorded total or full freedom when it comes to expressing ourselves in social media as a way or an avenue of airing out our issues?
Social media in this context refers to but not limited to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, to go, My Space and Whats up as the main source of social media. It should be noted at this juncture with greatest concern that the foregoing are the recent forms and modes of social media mostly and commonly available in our day to day network (Bealy & Chapman, 2009). Other forms and modes of social media do exist indeed, but it is only fair and wise for this discourse that we focus our attention and all our energy and synergy to the aforementioned five forms or modes of social media.Are we at liberty to express our opinions about anything that we deem fit? Are there any limitations that curtail or limit this freedom of expression as enshrined in our constitution that is the supreme law?
It is needless to point out that we are living in the 21st Century; the Digital World where most, if not all human beings are sophisticated as far as Computer expertise and usage are concerned. Most people have become aware of the new invention or the advancement in technology as far as social media is concerned.The freedom of speech is well encapsulated in the Bill of Rights as enshrined in the constitution of the United States in the First Amendment. The provision guarantees freedom of speech among other rights such as freedom to worship and / or religion and assemble. The freedom, therefore, guarantees all the American citizens the freedom of speech regardless of the modes or forms they choose to adopt (Wootton, 2011). This means, therefore; that all citizens are guaranteed of the freedom of speech as outlined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This is the crucial or vital freedom that any other human being may wish for. Expressing oneself is the crux or crucial thing that matters most throughout the entire life of any human race or species.
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, have revolutionized communication especially in the working place. Many employers have been forced to adopt the draconian measures in eradicating the social media concept at work place. Many of these employers feel that their employees tend to waste more time in social media rather than accomplishing their duties and targets as set out in their contracts of employments. But the truth of the matter on the ground is that these employees spend more time in hacking the locked social media sites rather than translating the same to their productivity at work (Walsh, 2009). In addition to this, these employees have smartphones that have easy access to these social media sites that have been blocked and thus, making the whole process of blocking these social media sites useless. We should, therefore, opt to educating our employees of the shortcomings of using and accessing social media at work as opposed to the blocking of the same sites without giving an explanation over the same action of doing so.
Positively, social media has been very effective at the workplace. As a matter of fact, the same social media has been used in identifying good candidates for various positions of job available by searching for specific qualifications through their social media profiles in the social media portfolios. Furthermore, social media at work place has been instrumental and crucial in passing messages to employees situated in far-flung places (Weisberg, 2009). There has been a steady growth in the world of social media and. The famous principle of vicarious liability apply to workers in regard to their employers as far as posting to social media is concerned. Any remarks or comments made in the course of their employment may pose a negative impact to the reputation of the business.
However, if social media is not managed effectively, it can then create many legal, financial and personnel risks. It goes without saying that, given the potential risks and benefits, it is hence critical for managers and / or any persons in authority to develop policies and procedures governing its appropriate use and application (Boswell, 2009).
Age is also a factor in the authentication of the person trying to access the social media. As a recent research indicates, persons who have attained the majority age commonly 18 years and above have been reported to be very active in this sector. The rationale for this being the sensitive nature of some of these social media sites. Indeed, as reports indicate these social media are well distributed across the age of its users. Different group of persons are linked with a certain social media trends, forms of modes. For instance, Facebook, Twitter and What’s Up are commonly known to be used among the teenagers and also the age between 35 to 44 years across the globe (Boswell, 2009). Therefore, the age of a person dictates the form, mode and the type of social media one choses to apply or / and use. It should be noted at this early time that different classes of person use social media for very different reasons and purposes. For instance, the group of persons aged 18 to 24 years commonly referred to as Peer Pressure group would always be associated with controversial statements or comments rationale being the quest to seek for a permanent identity or leave a mark in the social media as they are always swayed and carried by their friends’ opinion and emotions (Bealy & Chapman, 2009).
The second category here is persons aged 18 years to 24 years. These persons are at the stage of exploring both the personal and professional identities. As opposed to the teenage group, this specific group pays sharp focus and attention to their reputation and thus always cautious of what they intent to share in the social media. The third category here comprises of individuals between the ages of 24 years to 34 years going by the term of young adults. This group of persons focuses their energy on deepening the key relationships already established instead of obtaining lots of shallow and varied connections (Cole & Gertz, 2012).
The forth class of age group comprise of persons aged 34 years to 60 years. This group goes by the name of Middle adulthood. Their daily life on social media normally revolves around professional relationships, and / or family on the other. The last group here comprises of individuals aged between 60 years and above. The same category of people mostly spends their social media time in reflecting what they have already done. It is, therefore, the best group that can be used to offer the best advice on the usage of social media. This group, in a nutshell, clearly understands and knows the Do’s and the Don’ts of the social media (Weisberg, 2009).
Judges who make decisions in our courts are our fellow human beings. Their decisions are many a time informed by the current affairs being propagated in the social media that we are part of. This is the reason sometimes we end up with wrong decisions by the courts that technically results to bad precedents being set. In the case ofBrandon Raub, an ex-military soldier was sentenced to 30 years for having posted some of his personal political views on his Facebook page. Consequently,a public outcry ensued for his release which led to the unexpected ruling by Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett, where the government’s case against Brandon Raub was dismissed on the grounds that the government had failed to establish a prima facie case. This decision per se was majorly influenced by the social media and the pressure that the same exerted to the honorable court (Cole & Gertz, 2012).
The word on the street was that Brandon Raub was merely expressing his First Amendment right and; therefore, the State had no solid ground of putting him in custody and consequently sending him behind bars for a term of 30 years. Another authority is the case of Bland v. Roberts, which rather attracts a political scenario where several individuals were wrongful fired from their jobs as Sheriffs simply because they supported the opposition and the person they were opposing ended up being elected. They cried foul play as their right of freedom of speech as encapsulated in the First Amendment was being put on trial (Bealy & Chapman, 2009). The plaintiff’s action of merely liking the opponent’s page was termed by the honorable court as insufficient evidence support of their case as put forward. In this particular case matters of personal liberty as compared to the public interest were put into sharp focus or scrutiny. To cut a long story short, no prima facie case was established in this case and hence reinstatement was the key issue here as spelt out by the court’s decision on appeal.
There are several social evils that come with the social media. One of these social evils or inadequacies of social media is the spread of unreliable and false information commonly referred to as propaganda. Social media is prone and vulnerable to the transmission of propaganda. The other demerit associated with social media is that most of its sites lack privacy and hence expose its users to government and corporate intrusion (Walsh, 2009). This has led to many people being jailed for hate speech and incitement among other offences associated with social media. The department of homeland security has been very keen on comments made by individuals on social media. This limits the freedom of expression since whatever you say shall and may be used against you in a court of law as outlined in the Miranda.
It is needless to point out that social media has impacted negatively on the school grades of school going students. Students seemingly tend to spend more time on social networks as opposed to books. This translates to low grades and lack of seriousness in their study.
Social media has also dealt a great blow to the job stability and employment prospects. This is due to the stereotype as one learned scholar tried to associate stereotype as being the mother of genocide (Boswell, 2009).
Criminals have also been accused of using the social media to commit and promote crimes or hate groups. This has been effected by the ease of meeting a large crowd through the various modes and forms of social media (Cole & Gertz, 2012).As the wise saying goes; kill the devils but give him his dues; social media has its positive side or rather its adequacies.
One of the renowned advantages of social media is its ease to spread information faster than any other media. The transmission of information from one end to the other has been fastened. Moreover, the number of target group has also been expanded since many people are well conversant with social media (Bealy & Chapman, 2009). One can reach out to a large group of people by just posting the intended message on his or her Facebook page.
Another advantage of social media is that Law enforcement agencies have and are still using social network to catch criminals. This is through what they comment on social networks expressing their men’s real or their intention of committing any felony.Social network has also been instrumental to students. Students can reach out one another in the form of discussions and the same always boost their grades (Cole & Gertz, 2012).Additionally, people are able to make friends through the social network such as Facebook and this always help in coexistence and accommodation of one another. Some of the ideas we exchange help us in our daily life.
Indeed, social media has been used to emancipate the masses and hence create political awareness. People now know their political rights such as their voting rights. This consequently has increased the number of voter turnout. In addition, employers have found a fair ground of getting the employees of their choice (Bealy & Chapman, 2009). The economy has also been boosted since individuals can now sell their products online. The First Amendment should be amended to capture the upcoming or sophisticated technology since it seems obsolete. Law and privacy should also be integrated with the system to guarantee privacy of what we choose to share or post in social networks.
In conclusion, it is crystal clear that social media has both merits and its demerits. We should, therefore, embrace the same with care and caution and more so in regard to the place of a social media and the freedom of expression as far as the law is concerned.
References
Bealy, F., & Chapman, R. (2009). Elements in Political Science. London: Edinburgh University Press.
Boswell, J. (2009). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cole, G., & Gertz, M. (2012). The Criminal Justice System: Politics and Policies. New York: Wadsworth.
Walsh, A. (2009). Race and Crime: A Biosocial Analysis. New York: Nova Publishers.
Weisberg, H. (2009). Political Science: The Science of Politics. New York: Algora Publishing.
Wootton, G. (2011). Interest Groups: Policy and Politics in America. New York: Prentice-Hall.
