Social Media and the Law: A Guidebook for Communication Students and Professionals

This fully updated third edition of Social Media and the Law offers an essential guide to navigating the complex legal terrain of social media.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have become vital tools for professionals in the news and strategic communication fields. As these services have rapidly grown in popularity, their legal ramifications have continued to develop, resulting in students and professional communicators needing to be aware of laws relating to defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and government regulation. Editor Daxton Stewart brings together eleven media law scholars to address key questions, such as the following: To what extent do communicators put themselves at risk for lawsuits when they use these tools? What rights do communicators have when other users talk about them on social networks? How can people and companies manage intellectual property issues consistent with the developing law in this area?

This book is essential for students of media, mass communication, strategic communication, journalism, advertising, and public relations, as well as professional communicators that use social media in their role.

Daxton "Chip" R. Stewart is an attorney and professor at Texas Christian University, where he teaches courses in journalism and media law. He has more than 15 years of professional experience in news media and public relations. Along with editing Social Media and the Law, he is the author of Media Law Through Science Fiction: Do Androids Dream of Electric Free Speech? and co-author of the textbook The Law of Public Communication.