Blogging stops feeling like “social” media when homeland security knocks on your door.
(source: Orlando Weekly, http://fwix.com/orlando and other sites)
Reporters and members of the media are usually well versed on the legalities of what they can publish, shouldn’t publish, and will publish no-matter-what-the-repercussions. But as the internet has put the power of publishing in the hands of the world at large, bloggers, tweeters, ebook publishers, and website owners are all beginning to realize that their place in or outside the law is sometimes very difficult to discern. Case in point, Chris Elliott’s post-holiday visit from the Department of Homeland Security.
Chris blogs at www.elliott.org. He also writes the “Travel Troubleshooter” column in the Orlando Sentinel and other Tribune papers, writes for several major media outlets, and in the past has worked for Travel magazine, and as a business columnist at the Wall Street Journal.
Following the “underwear bomber” incidents this past Christmas, Chris published what he saw as information that would be helpful to travelers. In his December 27 post, he included Security Directive SD 1544-09-06, (Full text of SD 1544-09-06 authorizing pat-downs, physical inspections) which had been sent to him by someone whose name and identity Chris Elliot has carefully protected.
Both Elliott, and his source, believed that travelers would benefit from knowing the contents of the document, that everything that was in the document had already been released in one form or another, at least one other blogger was posting the full contents of the directive, and that a general overview of the document was even posted on the TSA’s own blog.
As Elliott explains, “I am just me. The TSA is an agency in disarray, so part of me thought they wouldn’t even notice.” Clearly part of him was concerned they might, as he went to the effort of consulting several reporters and legal experts before he published the blog post.
But on the evening when a TSA officer knocked on the door with a subpoena, requiring that Elliott reveal his sources, clearly this travel blogger must have questioned whether he had made the right choices. As Elliott’s children prepared for bed in their quiet Orlando suburb neighborhood, he wondered, “How do you explain to a 7-year-old that daddy’s going to go to jail?”
It is Not Just About Blogging … All Social Media Venues Come with Responsibilities
Chris Elliott blogs professionally. He is a journalist by training. To him, there was no question that he was willing to go to jail to protect his sources. And he is correct that a journalist always protects his or her sources—to do otherwise not only lacks ethics but is a guarantee for blacklisting in the profession.
But many bloggers are not schooled in the legalities and ethics of journalistic best practices. And everyone who twitters, posts information on Facebook, uploads videos to YouTube, adds photos to Flickr, or in any other way, “publishes” information, has to understand that there are both principles to uphold and laws to observe about what you present to the world.
Before you go public with something, ask yourself these questions first:
- Do I “own” this content and/or do I have the legal right to publish it? Is it protected by copyright, or is it a restricted or private document that belongs to a business, an individual, or a governmental agency. Am I showing (in the case of photos) identifiable products or landmarks without permission?
- Can anyone construe it as pornographic? Are there children depicted? Surely there has been enough media coverage of parents jailed for taking cute photos of their toddlers in the bubble bath, that all of us now know to steer clear of anything that could possibly be viewed as exploitive of children or as pornographic.
- Will my publication of this incite others to illegal or harmful actions?
- Will my publication of this in any way impede others from earning a living? Will I damage a business or organization, perhaps resulting in lost revenue, cutbacks, and layoffs?
- Could this be considered fraud or libel? Is it defamatory?
- Are these ‘hate words,’ ‘fighting words,’ discriminatory, or racist comments?
- Do my words desecrate the heritage, religion, or symbols of a group or culture?
- Is this content misleading? Is it accurate?
- Am I invading someone’s privacy?
- And lastly, will anyone benefit by this?
The violation of some of these 10 rules will land you in legal trouble (or jail), but breaking any of them will potentially do harm to another person or persons. If social media has any intention of living up to its name as ‘social’ then making sure you do no harm to others in the course of your actions ought to be rule number one. Don’t misunderstand your first amendment rights. The first amendment to the constitution protects you from the government abridging your right to free speech, but it does not guarantee you the right to say (or publish) whatever you like.
10 Step to Make Sure Your Tweets or Blogs Don’t Land You in Jail
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