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You
see it every day...a total lapse of sanity in the face
of today's social media's tools. The most common
surface around people free use of Facebook to vent or
just record what occurred on a really bad Friday night
as if on one outside their close friends will see it.
Even with the stories in the press (online that is)
about someone not getting a job because of a racial rant
on their profile or people being caught in affairs due
to their online dialog with "friends", people keep doing
it. Just because the communication tool (in this case,
social media) is new, doesn't mean the general rules of
conduct between people has changed. They haven't for
the most part in 100's if not 1000's of years so
throwing the word digital in front of a statement
doesn't mean that it exists in a separate universe with
fantastic new properties of social physics. This holds
true for Defamation of character. Let's first take a
look at meaning of this to oft used word and see how it
pertains to social tools like the Zipper local news and
local gossip app.
First, what is defamation or defamation of character?
In layman's terms, defamation of character is to cause
harm to come to another's person's personal or
professional reputation with incorrect and harmful
characterizations. Basically, you're telling lies about
a person that makes them look bad. There are many
examples you could use such as spreading a rumor about
the dealings of another person. The advent of the
internet has made all forms of communication easier than
this also applies to negative uses of this new found
freedom. Rumors run amok online both at a local and
national level. Some are true while others would
definitely fall under the auspices of defamation of
character. Just because the message is online doesn't
mean the local rules regarding such behavior as
defamation no longer holds true. That's where people
get in trouble...thinking that the rules offline no
longer apply to message online.
The
internet with all of it's means of information
transmission such as smart phone apps like the local
news tool the Zipper are even more precarious if you
plan on spreading harmful information. There's a full
record for anyone to read of your posts with social
media tools. It's all right there in full glory.
There's no hiding or saying that you meant something
else. If you use social tools to defame another person,
you're practically creating the court transcript with
your posts. On the Zipper local news and local gossip
app, there's a way to make a post "anonymous" by
checking this option during the posting process. Even
this isn't protection if you're using the Zipper to
defame another person. There are laws against
defamation and the Zipper must ultimately obey the laws
of the land. If law enforcement or a court of law
requires the information relating to a given post, we
must provide it as dictated by the law. The anonymous
button does not protect your identity if you intend to
break laws anymore than a fictitious profile will
protect you on other social websites. Ultimately,
emails are linked back to people who break laws and
defamation is no different. So what do we recommend?
Play
it safe. The Zipper is an awesome tool to get
real-time local news and local gossip in your area all
at the touch of your phone. There's so much cool stuff
that you can do with it...why take it there to the point
where it becomes defamation. It's not worth the
potential fallout and legal complications for those that
defame others with online social media tools. Can't we
all just get along?
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