As time passes by, the legal issues surrounding social media shall be of tremendous significance. These legal issues are currently beginning to emerge but are likely to consume sufficient attention and time of the relevant stakeholders over a period of time.
Keeping this thing in mind, at the Internet Governance Forum at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November, 2009, it has been discussed and decided to set up a “Dynamic Coalition On Social Media And Legal Issues”. This Dynamic Coalition will aim to generate discussions, debates, analysis and awareness about the various legal issues surrounding the use of social media, social networking websites and the social media platforms as also data and information residing therein.
“The Dynamic Coalition on Social Media And Legal Issues” is the thought process of the combined discussions and debates that have taken place at the Internet Governance Forum and it has subsequently been decided that the Dynamic Coalition On Social Media And Legal Issues is the best vehicle not only for disseminating more awareness about this extremely complicated yet universally applicable phenomenon but also to help develop the growth of jurisprudence and the relevant legal and jurisprudential trends with reference to social media and its complicated legalities.
Background
Today the internet has seen a radical dramatic shift. In many senses, this dramatic shift is symbolized by the emergent new social media revolution. Social networking websites have taken the imagination of the netizens by storm. Constantly, more and more numbers of users are thronging on to various established and new social networking sites not only to give vent to their own thought process, ideas, view points and perspectives but also to interact with other friends, acquaintances, business partners and similar minded persons. The emergence of social media is by far one of the most significant game changers in the history of the Internet after the advent of the World Wide Web and the e-mail.
However, the emergence of social media networks have demonstrated that there are lot of complicated legal issues pertaining to the said social networking platforms. These legal issues pertain to a variety of distinct yet diverse subjects.
- There are complicated and technical legal issues not only relating to user generated content or third-party data that is generated by subscribers on the social networking sites but also with other related aspects.
- Issues pertaining to the ownership of the said data is still not clear.
- There are issues pertaining to data protection as also violation of privacy.
- Further, social networking sites are today increasingly being thronged by cyber criminals and cyber terrorists not only to help facilitate and execute their criminal intentions but also to intermingle with the masses and the huge internet traffic existing on the websites to identify more about the psyche and thinking of the netizen community.
It has been decided that “The Dynamic Coalition on Social Media And Legal Issues” shall have following guiding principles
Principles
At the Internet Governance Forum, “The Dynamic Coalition on Social Media And Legal Issues” has been formed. Its guiding principles are as follows:
- To identify the existing legal issues, aspects and legalities pertaining to the use of social media and the internet.
- To identify existing legal responses by social media stakeholders through the said legal challenges.
- To help identify the existing and prospective legal responses of Governments to the said issue.
- To help create an independent platform for discussion and dissemination of information as well as perspectives and thoughts on legalities concerning social media.
- To help provide a common global platform for discussion and debate on legalities on social media and how the said legalities need to be shaped up in a manner that helps to further grow social media and its tremendous applications on the one hand and further protect the users and subscribers and consumers on the other hand.
- To further provide a fertile ground for potential collaboration between different stakeholders on different aspects of legalities concerning social media.
Aims - Creating a distinct website for dynamic coalition.
- Reporting about its existence and its proposed and potential activities to the IGF Secretariat.
- To create a list where people could post their thoughts and comments about legalities of social media.
- To commission white papers on the various distinct legal challenges surrounding social media.
- To help organize as well as organize online webinars and events to disseminate more awareness and knowledge about the existing legalities surrounding social media.
- To hold events in the actual world in association and assistance with the relevant stakeholders of the social media ecosystem, on the different aspects of legal responses, challenges and strategies adopted by social media industry.
- To create further awareness and dissemination of knowledge about the complicated scenarios surrounding the legalities of social media.
- To be a platform to facilitate collaboration with other relevant stakeholders in the social media ecosystem so as to contribute to the further global growth of responses to legal challenges surrounding the social media industry.
Objectives
- To help identify existing legal challenges and issues pertaining to social media.
- To identify existing and potential legal responses to complicated legalities of social media.
- To help provide a global platform for discussion and debate on the nuances and technicalities of legalities surrounding social media.
- To provide a fertile ground for providing debate discussion and analysis of legalities surrounding social media for the relevant stakeholders of social media.
Methodology & Philosophy
The methodology adopted by the dynamic coalition on social media and legal issues shall be totally derived by the various support provided by technology and the internet. The dynamic coalition will actively use the internet, cyber space, VOIP and other applications and technologies to disseminate more information about their challenges, activities, white papers, online webinars and actual world events.
The philosophy adopted by “The Dynamic Coalition on Social Media And Legal Issues” is one of all embracing attitude. “Vasudev Kutumbh Kam” meaning “the world is one family” is the logo and philosophy of the dynamic coalition on social media and legal issues. Any person who is interested in social media, its usages and its accompanying technicalities and legalities is free to join the dynamic coalition and contribute his thought processes and inputs towards strengthening the dynamic coalition and ensuring further support in terms of intellectual inputs, time, effort and energy as also resources in making the achieving of the goals of the dynamic coalition a complete reality.
Organizations & Institutions
The following organizations and institutions are members of the Dynamic Coalition
- Electronic frontier Finland, Finlan
- Council of Europe
- Afilias, Ireland
- CCI, Australia/Jordan
- MCMC, Malaysia
- MAEE, France
- AOL/BEBO, UK
- Department of IT Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq
- Net Choice, USA
- Diplo Foundation, Serbia
- Alliance 90/Greens Germany
- National Commission of Communication Regulation of Ukraine
- DEF, India
- Cyberlaw Asia
- Cyberlaw India
Meetings
The DCSMLI held its first meeting at the fourth annual IGF Meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt during 15-18 November 2009.
Web site
Under Construction
Mailing List
Under Construction
Contact
Mr. Pavan Duggal,
Advocate Supreme Court of India
President, Cyberlaw Asia
Email: [email protected], [email protected]