Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Publication Source

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Abstract

As in other areas of society, social media has significantly influenced the law. Currently, civil and criminal cases can, and often do, turn on an attorney's understanding and use of social media. In the realm of family law, most practitioners view social media as an essential tool-one that could serve as grounds for malpractice if ignored. Even in legal academia-an area long resistant to change-law schools are starting to understand the impact of social media on the law and offer courses like Social Media and Criminal Law and Law and Social Media.

The goal of this essay is not to address the myriad ways social media has influenced the legal field. It could not adequately do so, because there are now entire books examining social media's role in such areas as criminal law and litigation. Instead, this essay has a much more narrow focus; it will examine one feature of one social media platform to illustrate how the legal system has addressed the ever expanding role of social media within the law. More specifically, this essay will explore Facebook's "Like" button and look at its impact on constitutional issues as well as labor, property, and evidentiary laws.

Inclusive pages

507-519

ISBN/ISSN

1544-9262

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This document has been made available for download in accordance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving.

Permission documentation on file.

Publisher

Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law

Volume

17

Issue

4

Place of Publication

Dallas, TX

Download

Share

COinS