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Facebook and the First Amendment for Libraries

Facebook and the First Amendment for Libraries . Lisa M. Lee Ransmeier & Spellman, P.C. www.ranspell.com. What is “social media”?. The integration of technology, social interaction, and content creation. 800 million active users 400 million on a daily basis

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Facebook and the First Amendment for Libraries

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  1. Facebook and the First Amendment for Libraries Lisa M. Lee Ransmeier & Spellman, P.C. www.ranspell.com

  2. What is “social media”? The integration of technology, social interaction, and content creation

  3. 800 million active users • 400 million on a daily basis • 41% of the US Population uses Facebook • 350 million users on mobile devices • Average user has 130 friends

  4. 100 million active users • 100 million more “lurkers” • 238 million tweets per day

  5. Other Social Media Platforms

  6. Welcome to the Social Media Revolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SuNx0UrnEo

  7. Thisis all very Overwhelming Unfamiliar Exciting Fraught with Peril ???????

  8. “I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” The Wisdom of Dr. Seuss

  9. “Troubles” • Social Media • First Amendment/42 USC Section 1983 • RSA chapter 91-A: The Right to Know Law • RSA chapter 98-E

  10. Our Bats • Familiarity with the Law • Familiarity with Social Media Platforms • A Social Media Strategy • A Tailored Social Media Policy

  11. The Law

  12. The First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

  13. Problems with the law…. It cannot keep up with technology.

  14. There are no legal precedents at this time in the First Circuit that deal with social media.

  15. What does the 1st Amendment Prohibit???? • Generally speaking, government cannot regulate private speech. • There are, of course, exceptions.

  16. What are the potential problems with the First Amendment?

  17. The What ifs? • People start posting advertisements? • People post things that are off topic? • People post hostile messages? • People use obscenity? • People post things that are threatening or defamatory? • People post things that violate legal ownership of another?

  18. The Government Speech Doctrine • A government entity has the right to speak for itself. • This includes website content and probably links. • See Sutliffe v. Epping School District, 584 F.3d 314 (1st Cir. 2009). • This probably won’t extend to deleting comments or viewpoints expressed on Facebook once and invite to interactivity is extended.

  19. Facebook as a Public Forum • Facebook that is interactive is likely to be treated as a limited public form because it is the intentional opening of a nontraditional forum for public discourse.

  20. What is a limited public forum? A government entity, in regulating property in its charge, may impose restrictions on speech that are: 1. reasonable in light of the purposes of the forum; and 2. viewpoint neutral.

  21. What are the permissible “limits”? • Who gets to speak? • The time, “place” and manner of the speech • The content (to some extent)

  22. Who gets to speak? This is dangerous territory.

  23. What do they get to say? This is a better place to seek safe harbor.

  24. Content Subject matter restrictions are upheld as long as they are reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum and viewpoint neutral.

  25. Land Mines—Content Restriction • Religion • Politics • Decency • “no public controversy” policies

  26. These topics blur the line between content and viewpoint discrimination.

  27. Purpose A clear purpose of the social media platform needs to be established NOW so that restrictions can be imposed LATER.

  28. How are libraries using social media? Education Reach a different audience (younger?) Interaction Provide reference services To remain relevant

  29. Explicitly Define the Purpose of the Forum. (I will show you where to put it in a little while.)

  30. Purpose • The more well-defined your purposes, the easier it will be to determine what posts match it. • Avoid broad terms like “bullying”. • Use specifics. • If you don’t define them, you might get stuck with everything.

  31. Use it or lose it. • If you have a clear purpose but do not enforce it, you are compounding your problems. • When you DO try to enforce it, people may cry foul.

  32. How to set up a Facebook Page… In five minutes or less

  33. Have a moderator. Please.

  34. An Example of a Purpose The purpose of this Facebook page is to allow and encourage the library to communicate with the public and with other libraries about topics of interest to the library including its services, events, and other library news. The topics of discussion will be set by the moderator, and it is expected that comments made will be on topic. Comments that are off-topic, contain sexually explicit or obscene material, contain solicitations, are defamatory or threatening will be removed.

  35. Find the Basic Information Tab Put your purpose there.

  36. Give serious thought to your purposes. Then put pen to paper.

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