The media and the public can't get enough of Congressman Anthony Weiner's Twitter Sex Scandal. Sex, Sports, Entertainment, and Politics drives our culture. People watch television, go to the movies, or view content online generally if it is about one of these four topics. When a situation such as Weinergate contains three of these four issues it may be considered a trifecta. Here, it is sex, entertainment, and politics.
Social Media Ethics is not black and white. There is a tremendous amount of gray. I am a staunch supporter of the protections that the First Amendment provides; however, this right is sometimes balanced against other issues such as privacy, defamation, copyright, etc... The problem is where should the line be drawn as far as what is merely inappropriate, what is unethical, and what is protected under the First Amendment? For example, recently in Minnesota the state Senate Ethics Panel voted to dismiss an ethics complaint if state Sen. Gretchen Hoffman apologized for a Tweet that allegedly took out of context what state Sen. Barb Goodwin stated in a speech to her fellow colleagues. It appears that at least an entire afternoon and evening was spent discussing how to handle this matter.
According to a Minneapolis-St. Paul NBC affiliate news report, the ethics committee debated how Sen. Hoffman should apologize to Sen Goodwin; in person, via Twitter, or to the Senate along with some type of social media component. If Sen. Hoffman's message was just spoken and not tweeted I highly doubt that the Minnesota Senate Ethics Committee would have addressed the matter. Therefore, will social media usage be treated differently than other forms of communication when determining what is ethical, inappropriate, and protected by the First Amendment?
Sending out one allegedly misleading Tweet about a colleague is much different than sending out at least one photograph of your genitals along with multiple allegedly inappropriate photographs of yourself to strangers. I would never recommend following Mr. Weiner's social media or crisis management strategy.
Is Mr. Weiner's behavior merely inappropriate, is it unethical, or is it protected by the First Amendment? Where do we draw the line? I believe a national conversation is needed to discuss how social media and the First Amendment may collide. How far will Minnesota or another government body go in regulating social media political speech? These are just a few of the many legal and political issues that will need to be addressed in the near future.
To learn more about social media political speech and ethics you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Twitter Scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter Scandal. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Update: Social Media Crisis Management, Weinergate, Politics, Football, and the Law
Soon after I made my original post regarding Congressman Weiner's alleged inappropriate Tweet, Mr. Weiner came clean in a news conference in New York City. Mr. Weiner apologized for lying and his terrible mistake throughout his social media crisis.
If Mr. Weiner would have hired an attorney well versed in social media matters immediately after this scandal broke and received and followed his advice the fallout of this situation may have been lessened. People make dumb mistakes all the time. However, Mr. Weiner should have known better, especially since fellow Congressman Chris Lee resigned a few months ago due to a similar situation.
It will be very difficult for Mr. Weiner to regain the trust and respect of his constituents and his colleagues. As I have been saying for a long time, be careful what you post online. One wrong post may destroy your professional career and/or personal life.
To learn how to properly handle a social media crisis you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
If Mr. Weiner would have hired an attorney well versed in social media matters immediately after this scandal broke and received and followed his advice the fallout of this situation may have been lessened. People make dumb mistakes all the time. However, Mr. Weiner should have known better, especially since fellow Congressman Chris Lee resigned a few months ago due to a similar situation.
It will be very difficult for Mr. Weiner to regain the trust and respect of his constituents and his colleagues. As I have been saying for a long time, be careful what you post online. One wrong post may destroy your professional career and/or personal life.
To learn how to properly handle a social media crisis you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Social Media Crisis Management, Weinergate, Politics, Football, and the Law
Does your company or client have a social media crisis management plan? Social media crisis management is not the same as traditional media crisis management. Social media is a different animal than traditional media and those who advise clients in the social media space must understand the legal, political, public relations, and economic effects, etc... of a social media crisis.
In a social media crisis management plan, a lawyer may play a central role within the social media crisis management team. The type of role that a lawyer plays in a social media crisis depends on the matter. Legal issues appear to be front and center in many of these situations so a lawyer may act in a capacity similar to a quarterback and/or a middle linebacker on a football team. Sometimes a lawyer must go on the offensive and act like Johnny Unitas to further his client's interests. At other times, a lawyer must act like Ray Lewis to defend his client's interests. A lawyer must have a multi-dimensional background and the social media skills, knowledge, and personality to handle the situation.
Last week, Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York was embroiled in a scandal due to his alleged social media usage. A photograph of a man in his briefs was sent from Congressman Weiner's Twitter account to a college student. Mr. Weiner initially acted like this matter was a prank and no big deal. Hacking into an email or social media account is not as uncommon as some may think and there are serious security loopholes in many online systems. For example, Sarah Palin's email account was hacked during the 2008 presidential campaign and the perpetrator was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer.
The alleged hacking of Mr. Weiner's Twitter account has been called "Weinergate" by some media outlets. The story would have died a natural death within a couple of days it first becoming public; however, Mr. Weiner could not say with "certitude" that the alleged inappropriate image that was sent from his Twitter account was not of him. In addition, Mr. Weiner did not ask for an official investigation into the matter by the proper authorities. It is very troubling that Mr. Weiner has not requested an official investigation into this matter.
Due to Mr. Weiner's initial handling of the matter, the story has mushroomed and has stayed in the news cycle for more than a week. I commented about this matter on MSNBC on June 1, 2011 during the noon hour. During my appearance on MSNBC, I stated that wire fraud and/or computer fraud may have occurred if Mr. Weiner's Twitter account or other electronic systems were hacked. In addition, I stated that Mr. Weiner should request an official investigation into the matter by the proper authorities.
At first glance, it sounds ridiculous to spend precious resources to investigate whether a congressman sent an inappropriate image from his Twitter account. Our country has better things to do with its time and money than to investigate whether a congressman is sending allegedly lewd images of himself to others online. However, during the past few weeks there have been some high profile cyber attacks against some of our country's largest companies and if Mr. Weiner's Twitter account and/or other electronic accounts were hacked it needs to be investigated to determine if there are any security vulnerabilities with Mr. Weiner's electronic congressional accounts.
Hacking may be considered a game or a prank by some people. In some instances, hackers are able to find and notify the public about legitimate computer security concerns. However, hacking should not be thought of as an innocent prank because some countries now have cyber warfare units and it is alleged that the U.S. may attack another country conventionally if it is attacked online.
As I am writing this post, it appears that this may not be the first time that inappropriate photos have been sent from an electronic account purportedly belonging to Mr. Weiner. Since it appears that Weinergate may have gotten some new steam it is imperative that Mr. Weiner get his social media crisis management team together immediately. Mr. Weiner may want to avoid Tiger Woods' and Brett Favre's social media crisis management mistakes. It is too late to follow David Letterman's playbook and immediately do a mea culpa; however, if the new allegations against Mr. Weiner are true he should come clean before this scandal destroys his political career and personal life.
To learn more about the legal issues that are intertwined with social media crisis management and how to handle a social media crisis you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
In a social media crisis management plan, a lawyer may play a central role within the social media crisis management team. The type of role that a lawyer plays in a social media crisis depends on the matter. Legal issues appear to be front and center in many of these situations so a lawyer may act in a capacity similar to a quarterback and/or a middle linebacker on a football team. Sometimes a lawyer must go on the offensive and act like Johnny Unitas to further his client's interests. At other times, a lawyer must act like Ray Lewis to defend his client's interests. A lawyer must have a multi-dimensional background and the social media skills, knowledge, and personality to handle the situation.
Last week, Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York was embroiled in a scandal due to his alleged social media usage. A photograph of a man in his briefs was sent from Congressman Weiner's Twitter account to a college student. Mr. Weiner initially acted like this matter was a prank and no big deal. Hacking into an email or social media account is not as uncommon as some may think and there are serious security loopholes in many online systems. For example, Sarah Palin's email account was hacked during the 2008 presidential campaign and the perpetrator was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer.
The alleged hacking of Mr. Weiner's Twitter account has been called "Weinergate" by some media outlets. The story would have died a natural death within a couple of days it first becoming public; however, Mr. Weiner could not say with "certitude" that the alleged inappropriate image that was sent from his Twitter account was not of him. In addition, Mr. Weiner did not ask for an official investigation into the matter by the proper authorities. It is very troubling that Mr. Weiner has not requested an official investigation into this matter.
Due to Mr. Weiner's initial handling of the matter, the story has mushroomed and has stayed in the news cycle for more than a week. I commented about this matter on MSNBC on June 1, 2011 during the noon hour. During my appearance on MSNBC, I stated that wire fraud and/or computer fraud may have occurred if Mr. Weiner's Twitter account or other electronic systems were hacked. In addition, I stated that Mr. Weiner should request an official investigation into the matter by the proper authorities.
At first glance, it sounds ridiculous to spend precious resources to investigate whether a congressman sent an inappropriate image from his Twitter account. Our country has better things to do with its time and money than to investigate whether a congressman is sending allegedly lewd images of himself to others online. However, during the past few weeks there have been some high profile cyber attacks against some of our country's largest companies and if Mr. Weiner's Twitter account and/or other electronic accounts were hacked it needs to be investigated to determine if there are any security vulnerabilities with Mr. Weiner's electronic congressional accounts.
Hacking may be considered a game or a prank by some people. In some instances, hackers are able to find and notify the public about legitimate computer security concerns. However, hacking should not be thought of as an innocent prank because some countries now have cyber warfare units and it is alleged that the U.S. may attack another country conventionally if it is attacked online.
As I am writing this post, it appears that this may not be the first time that inappropriate photos have been sent from an electronic account purportedly belonging to Mr. Weiner. Since it appears that Weinergate may have gotten some new steam it is imperative that Mr. Weiner get his social media crisis management team together immediately. Mr. Weiner may want to avoid Tiger Woods' and Brett Favre's social media crisis management mistakes. It is too late to follow David Letterman's playbook and immediately do a mea culpa; however, if the new allegations against Mr. Weiner are true he should come clean before this scandal destroys his political career and personal life.
To learn more about the legal issues that are intertwined with social media crisis management and how to handle a social media crisis you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
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