In May the NY times reported that a Judge in Virginia ruled that the “Like” button on Facebook is not considered protected speech and several people lost their job by liking an opposing official. Facebook has taken offense to this ruling and has countered in court that their like function is in fact protected under the first amendment.
Facebook filed a friend-of-the-court brief, on August 6th that urges an appeals court to vacate a recent ruling by the judge in Virginia that Facebook "likes" are not protected speech. While this may seem minor in the grand scheme of life, I believe it has a far reaching impact. Many prospective employers ask for your Facebook and Linked In pages to evaluate you as a candidate for a job position, if in fact your public comments are protected first amendment rights, can an organization reject you based on your personal beliefs? Can you be fired for your personal beliefs if they are posted publically?
For organizations, it can become a nightmare, most organizations face minimal scrutiny when one of their employees say or do something egregious, but being the NY area, we get to see this very issue in full color, our professional athletes are under constant scrutiny. Just imagine if you were the focus of removing your shirt after a rain storm, like Tim Tebow of the NY Jets. Is this a far reaching example? Of course, apparently a back up quarterback in NY with a massive following is head line news, but it does go to show how media, both news focused and socially goes viral on topics that would never have been discussed a decade ago.
For organizations, managing this phenomena becomes even more challenging. I have highlighted security and corporate reputation in my previous article, but just imagine if the wrong person with a massive following feels compelled to tell their side of a bad experience using a social channel. A great example of this was recently posted on Facebook regarding Alaska Airlines treatment of an elderly patron with advanced Parkinson's disease. Not only did the article go viral, but the local news picked up the story. I am not condemning either party as I do not feel all of the facts have surfaced, but social media typically only provides the sensationalism and delivers one side of a story.
As an organization, how do you monitor and manage these risks to your stakeholders. There are many businesses that will lose substantial revenues if their reputation is harmed, managing this communication outlet requires advanced strategy, SWOT teams and a full plan for responding to an ever changing public. I truly wonder how our constitution would have been drafted if our founding fathers were sitting down today to write these very documents that have formed our society, would they still provide the same freedoms we have come to expect as human beings? On a lighter side, I personally am waiting for a creative lawyer to use an entrapment defense for a burglar who breaks into a home to find occupants present even though their Facebook page says they are away at Disneyland.
I wish I could provide a clear vision of how this will all turn out, but the reality of the situation is that no one knows, all I can predict is a constantly changing environment around how we communicate with each other.
Frank Toscano is a 15+ year specialist in cloud based services focusing on Product Management, Marketing and Security within the Cloud. He has worked for EasyLink Services and Premiere Global Services in a global role providing hosted services to Fortune 1000 clients. He is currently seeking employment with a cloud based provider in a senior level Product/Marketing role.
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