Legal Tech

How to become a social media lawyer

Social Media Lawyer
Modes of Social Media

Social media, how did we ever live without it? People have become more and more willing to share aspects of their day to day lives with others through social media. Some even use it for marketing of their businesses.

Reliance on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, though beneficial, has led to some problems as well. Cyber bullying and identity theft are just but a few.

There is now also a need for companies to be able to navigate promotion laws. That is where social media lawyers come in. They are the only ones equipped to deal with the legal issues associated with social media.

Becoming a social media lawyer

Social media law is full of possibilities. If you are curious to find out how to become a social media lawyer, you’ve come to the right place. Before we dive head first into the exciting world of social media law, we need to gather some basic knowledge.

 

What does a social media lawyer do?

There are few social media lawyers so many people may not be aware what they do or that they even exist. As a social media lawyer you will deal with the following kinds of cases;

  • Cyber bullying or harassment
  • Cyber stalking
  • Identity theft
  • Marketing and advertising litigation
  • Privacy violations
  • Defamation
  • Phishing (stealing information from your profile page)

These are all cases that never existed before the introduction of social media, so dealing with them requires special expertise. The work of a social media lawyer is however not limited to the above cases.

How do you become a social media lawyer?

To be a social media lawyer you need to have vast knowledge on several laws and practices concerning social media. Here are few categories;

  1. Marketing  guidelines

This is where the bulk of social media law work lies. This is because big corporations are consistently marketing their goods to consumers on social media. Needless to say, the consumers can easily be deceived,

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has clear endorsement guidelines concerning this. There are also some critical cases showing how social media can be used to deceive consumers. To be efficient as a social media lawyer, you need to be aware of all this information.

2. Contests and Promotions Guidelines

Social media platforms like Facebook allow companies to run promotions. These companies will, therefore, need social media lawyers who thoroughly understand the promotion guidelines of the platform in question.

As a social media lawyer, you will have to be constantly up to date with promotion guidelines to be among the top in your field. You will also have to be informed about regulations concerning contests. Some of these regulations existed even before social media while others are coming up as we speak.

        3. Privacy

You will need to thoroughly up to date what privacy laws govern social media platforms to help your clients effectively.

        4. Free speech

You will have to figure out how freedom of expression rights are affected in light of social media restrictions.

        5. Copyright

It was already hard to regulate access to owned content even before the advent of social media. It has gotten far more complicated now since there are far more ways to consume media now. How are you going to handle this new challenge?

          6. Brand damage

As a social media lawyer, you will be expected to help clients or organizations who have made mistakes on social media which have led to the destruction or compromising of their brand. How are you going to salvage the situation?

 Parting shot

It is evident that to be an effective social media lawyer; you will need to be abreast with the ever changing world of social media law. You will also need to be passionate and highly inventive. It may seem like a tough task, but it is worth your time.

With social media taking over every aspect of our lives, lawyers knowledgeable in this sector are in high demand. With so few of these lawyers out there, this is a sector that is ripe for the picking. So definitely feel free to join in.