Student Yik Yak Threat at Towson University Leads To Arrest

Be careful what you post online.  I discuss this theme constantly with my clients, during seminars, and with the media.  Earlier this week, a Towson University student was arrested after posting a threat on the app called Yik Yak. 

An 18-year old Towson University student allegedly made an anonymous threat against Towson University utilizing Yik Yak.  The alleged threat made a reference to creating a "Virginia Tech Part 2".  This troubling alleged reference to the terrible tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007 that killed 33 people demonstrates that the student may need the assistance of a mental health professional.   

According to the Towson Towerlight, "[a] resident student first reported the threat to her resident assistant Wednesday afternoon. The RA took it to the Department of Housing and Residence Life, according to the Director of University Communications Ray Feldmann, who then took it to University Police. TUPD then alerted Baltimore County Police, Maryland State Police and the FBI."

The student who allegedly threatened Towson was charged with, "threat of massive violence and disturbing operations at a school." According to the Baltimore Sun, the defendant, "told police he had learned he wasn't performing well in the jazz class and was worried his parents would pull him out of school if his GPA dropped too much..."

The bottom line is that no matter how angry one is it is generally not recommended to express your anger on social media or any other digital platform.  If someone is thinking about harming others or themselves, they should meet with a mental health professional who may be able to assist them.

Copyright 2014 by Shear Law, LLC All rights reserved.     

Washington State Bans NCAA Schools From Using Social Media Monitoring Services on Coaches

Washington State has banned employers from generally requiring employees to turn over their personal social media credentials.  Earlier this week, Washington Governor Inslee signed SB 521 that will protect Washington state employers from becoming required to hire social media monitoring companies to review the personal digital accounts of their employees.

This law may save Washington employers tens of millions of dollars in potential costs associated with social media monitoring the personal digital accounts of employees and it will protect the personal privacy of employees.  This includes the costs associated with hiring social media monitoring companies, increased cyber liability insurance costs, and legal fees and judgements inherent with negligent social media monitoring.  The law was enacted because some companies are contacting employers, in particular colleges, to sell them social media monitoring services that are legal liability time bombs.

If an employer is monitoring the personal digital accounts of their employees and misses an issue that may indicate an employee may be violating the law and the employer does not report this information to the proper authorities in a timely manner the employer may have tremendous legal liability.  A handful of emails from more than 10 years ago appears to be the main evidence that several high level administrators at Penn State knew that Jerry Sandusky was molesting young boys on its campus.  Absent the digital evidence, it would have been much more difficult to prove that some Penn State employees allegedly knew about Jerry Sandusky's illegal activities.  The email evidence so far appears to have cost Penn State almost $50 million dollars in fines, legal and investigatory fees, and other related costs.     

The only way for an employer to know whether a particular personal digital account belongs to an employee is if it verifies that the account belongs to the person whom it claims to represent.  In other words, for a social media monitoring service to properly work an employee must at a minimum authentic his personal social media user name.  In general, verifying a personal social media user name violates Washington's SB 521 along with laws in approximately ten other states.  Therefore, Washington employers, including schools may not utilize social media monitoring companies to track their employees' personal digital accounts.   

To learn how to properly handle social media issues in your company or school you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.

Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC.  All rights reserved.

University of Maryland Law School's Symposium on Social Media and the Law

On Friday, April 5, 2013, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law's Journal of Business & Technology Law is sponsoring a symposium titled, "Social Media and the Law: An Exploratory Look into the Legal Effects of Online Interconnectedness." The event is free, open to the general public, and lunch will be provided to those who RSVP.

Speakers will present on a range of topics, including: the constitutionality of student athlete social media policies; the relationship between social media interfaces and copyright law; and how social media laws are developing with respect to employment law, contracts, and privacy matters. Our speakers include private practitioners, a higher education media relations representative, and professors of law and communications. To RSVP please visit the Journal's website: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/academics/journals/jbtl/symposia.html .

NCAA's New Social Media Recruiting Policy

The NCAA has updated its social media recruiting policy. The policy deregulates the number of texts, calls, and other forms of digital communication that coaches may have with potential recruits after they finish their sophomore year in high school.

While the previous policy was instituted with good intentions, it was very difficult to enforce and not flexible enough to adapt to the changing ways we communicate and interact. Unfortunately, there are some self-anointed sports social media consulstants who may try to convince schools that they understand social media, compliance, and the law and that schools should hire them to advise them on the NCAA's new policy. As I have written before, schools must perform due diligence on hiring companies who have incorrectly predicted future NCAA social media policy changes because some of these companies have been caught intentionally misrepresenting their credentials and lying to NCAA schools in order to obtain their business.

While coaches may now have the opportunity to send an unlimited number of digital messages to recruits, it would be wise not to over message and aggravate a high school student and/or his family. While social media and other forms of technology may help communicate with recruits, meeting a prospective future student-athlete face to face, shaking his hand, looking him in the eyes, and treating him with respect may still be the most productive way to determine if that person is a good fit for your program.

The bottom line is that schools should tread carefully in the social media space to avoid potential legal liability.

To learn more about these issues you may contact me at http://shearlaw.com/attorney_profile.

Copyright 2012 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.