Aaron Rubin

Firm/Organization: Morrison & Foerster LLP

Latest Articles

Social Links: YouTube bans some targeted ads; big changes afoot on Twitter; Facebook plans to remove ‘deep fakes’

January 13, 2020

In a move that might be part of a settlement that YouTube has entered into with the Federal Trade Commission, the video-sharing site said it will ban “targeted” advertisements on videos likely to be watched by children. Because targeted ads rely on information collected about the platform’s users, displaying such ads to children younger than 13 without parental permission violates the Children’s Online Privacy Act (COPPA). Until now, YouTube has avoided banning targeted…

Socially Aware Blog

Social Links: FTC fights fraudulent online product reviews; Twitter takes another swipe at trolls; Influencers affect everything from cybersecurity to career choices

By Aaron Rubin

November 26, 2019

The high-end skincare brand Sunday Riley has settled lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission claiming that the brand’s founder encouraged employees of her eponymous company to set up accounts “under different identities” on the cosmetics retail site Sephora.com and leave positive reviews for Sunday Riley’s products. The FTC filed the complaints after the agency conducted an investigation that was prompted by a whistle blower’s post on REDDIT last year. Read about the settlement’s lenient …

Socially Aware Blog

Insta-Mural Infringement: Public Art in Instagram Ad Leads to Copyright Claim

By Aaron Rubin & Amber Harezlak

October 9, 2019

As regular readers of Socially Aware already know, there are many potential traps for companies that use photographs or other content without authorization from the copyright owners. For example, companies have faced copyright infringement claims based on use of photos pulled from Twitter. Claims have even arisen from the common practice of embedding tweets on blogs and websites, and we have seen a flurry of stories recently about photographers suing celebrities for posting photos of…

Socially Aware Blog

A dating platform’s alleged fraud; a decline in the popularity of popularity metrics; TikTok’s unique AI

By Aaron Rubin

October 7, 2019

Singapore has enacted a law granting government ministers the power to require social media platforms to completely remove or place warnings alongside posts the authorities designate as false. Unlike the compensation earned by child stars who perform on television, in films, or on other traditional media in California, the income generated by children who perform on social media—“kidfluencers”—still isn’t protected under California law. The Federal Trade Commission is suing Match Group, the…

Socially Aware Blog

The Meme Generation: Social Media Platforms Address Content Curation

By Aaron Rubin

August 20, 2019

It is likely no surprise to regular readers of Socially Aware that posting content to social media can, in some cases, generate significant income. But those who make their living on social media may find their livelihood threatened if they fail to comply with the law and with the relevant platform’s terms of use. For example, we often see trouble arise when social media users fail to follow the Federal Trade Commission’s disclosure rules…

Socially Aware Blog

By Winning Motion to Dismiss, Supermodel Loses Chance to Clarify Whether She Can Lawfully Post Photos of Herself to Social Media

By Aaron Rubin

August 2, 2019

A federal district court dismissed a case against supermodel Gigi Hadid for posting to Instagram a photo of herself that was taken by a paparazzo. The reason for the court’s decision was simple: The party claiming copyright ownership of the photo failed to get it registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, a prerequisite to filing an infringement suit against alleged violators. If the plaintiff in the suit had complied with the copyright registration process and…

Socially Aware Blog

Court Holds that Arbitration Clause in “Hybridwrap” Terms Is Unenforceable

By Aaron Rubin & Gilbert J. Choi

July 23, 2019

A federal district court in Illinois recently held in Anand v. Heath that a digital marketing company could not force a user to arbitrate because a “Continue” button on its website did not provide clear notice that clicking the button constituted assent to the hyperlinked terms and conditions that contained the arbitration provision. As we have noted previously, website operators who wish to enforce their online terms against users will have a higher likelihood…

Socially Aware Blog

D.C. Circuit Holds that Section 230 Locks Out Locksmiths

By Aaron Rubin & Scott Chen

July 17, 2019

As we noted in our recent post on the Second Circuit case Herrick v. Grindr, LLC, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) continues to provide immunity to online intermediaries from liability for user content, despite pressure from courts and legislatures seeking to chip away at this safe harbor. The D.C. Circuit case Marshall’s Locksmith Service Inc. v. Google, LLC serves as another example of Section 230’s resiliency. In Marshall’s Locksmith, the D.C.…

Socially Aware Blog

California Court Finds Section 230 Protects Decision to Suspend and Ban Twitter Account

By Aaron Rubin & Reid Knabe

June 27, 2019

A California Superior Court’s recent ruling in Murphy v. Twitter held that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shielded Twitter from liability for suspending and banning a user’s account for violating the platform’s policies. As we have previously noted, Section 230 has come under pressure in recent years from both courts and legislatures. But we have also examined other cases demonstrating Section 230’s staying power. The ruling in Murphy again shows that, despite…

Socially Aware Blog

Legislators Propose Narrowing § 230’s Protections, the Law that Gave us the Modern Internet

By Aaron Rubin

June 25, 2019

As we have frequently noted on Socially Aware, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects social media sites and other online platforms from liability for user-generated content. Sometimes referred to as “the law that gave us the modern Internet,” Section 230 has provided robust immunity for website operators since it was enacted in 1996. As we have also written previously, however, the historically broad Section 230 immunity has come under pressure…

Aaron Rubin

Social Links: YouTube bans some targeted ads; big changes afoot on Twitter; Facebook plans to remove ‘deep fakes’

Social Links: FTC fights fraudulent online product reviews; Twitter takes another swipe at trolls; Influencers affect everything from cybersecurity to career choices

Insta-Mural Infringement: Public Art in Instagram Ad Leads to Copyright Claim

A dating platform’s alleged fraud; a decline in the popularity of popularity metrics; TikTok’s unique AI

The Meme Generation: Social Media Platforms Address Content Curation

By Winning Motion to Dismiss, Supermodel Loses Chance to Clarify Whether She Can Lawfully Post Photos of Herself to Social Media

Court Holds that Arbitration Clause in “Hybridwrap” Terms Is Unenforceable

D.C. Circuit Holds that Section 230 Locks Out Locksmiths

California Court Finds Section 230 Protects Decision to Suspend and Ban Twitter Account

Legislators Propose Narrowing § 230’s Protections, the Law that Gave us the Modern Internet

Stay Connected

Company

Support

New to the Network