SOCIAL MEDIA RIGHTS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS:
Written by-Apramay Mishra
Introduction:
Nowadays social media is so important in our daily life that without social media we can’t imagine our life. Over the past few years, the usage of the internet has increased so much that every single person uses the internet in their daily routine. The internet and social media have become such an integral part of our life that without them we feel as if our life is incomplete.
Social media is a platform for all to express their feelings and whatever they want to. Social media helps people to convey their messages all over the world in the easiest way. In a country like India, social media plays a very important role in many ways. It helps people to get any information related to their work or anything.
With the help of social media or the internet, our life has become so easy that we can’t imagine our life without them. In the past few years, there has been a boom in internet usage in India. The social media industry has grown very fast and many new platforms of social media have been introduced to the people. While the increment in the usage of the Internet is beneficial to the country in many ways, there is no proper guidance for its proper and fair usage.
Definition of social media laws:
Social media laws are the laws that govern the rules and regulations regarding the applications and usage of social media platforms in the country. They deal with the situations and the problems that arise in society from the unfair or improper usage of social media. Social media laws are still developing and deal with civil as well as criminal laws in their aspect. Generally, they cover the legal matters of the user-generated content and the online sites that host or transmit them.
Social media laws deal with the problems which are faced by users when they can’t get any help from the concerned application or website. Then they take help from the social media laws. Social media laws protect people from violation of their fundamental rights. Such rights are freedom of speech, right to privacy, etc., which come in Article 19 and Article 21 of the Indian constitution. Sometimes the legal concerns are raised by social media on privacy, (for eg., when the photo of a person is used without their consent, it infringes the right to privacy of the person). The material sometimes posted on social media can infringe Copy Rights, trademarks, and some other IP Rights. Some people also use social media for defaming and trolling other people which also violates their legal rights.
Laws Related To Social media:
Defamation and privacy lawsuits can be filed on the basis of social media content. Social media lawyers can defend their client, who is accused of crimes or defamation.
Copyright issue:- Copyright issues are the issues of copying or taking someone’s content without their consent. According to section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957, “copyright protection is conferred on literary work, artistic work, films, and sound recording”.
Social media laws are:-
Anti-SLAPP statutes provide remedies for the defense of frivolous lawsuits brought to deter the exercise of free speech.
Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination based on disability.
Communications Decency Act regulates indecency and obscenity in cyberspace.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act mirrors the common law tort of real property trespass into the virtual realm of computers.
Copyright Act sets out exclusionary rights for works of authorship, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act limits liability to service providers.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) limits the collection of personal information of persons under 13 years of age.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”) prohibits the interception of “any wire, oral or electronic communication.”
Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Act permits FTC investigation of unfair trade policies.
Lanham Act provides protection for trademarks and service marks.
The National Labor Relations Act guarantees the rights of employees to participate and engage in concerted activity for better conditions in the workplace.
Thus the above-mentioned laws help people to file any suit against social media infringement.
Conclusion:
Social media applications are growing faster and faster in the present times. We should understand how much time a normal person should give to social media platforms. We should act wisely in the era of social media. Social media is good and bad in both ways; the pros and cons are associated with it. With the help of social media, we get all the information about what is happening in the entire world. It provides the exact information about things. Cons of social media are that people waste their precious time on the useless sites which do not provide any knowledge or information, privacy is at stake in social media, the trolling and the wrongdoings in the name of religious matters always happen on social media which violates people’s rights and their conditions in the society.
At last, it is our duty to be responsible citizens of the country and not spread any rumors. While using social media, we have to be responsible and aware of the consequences which might happen in the present times.