Social Networking Sites: Legal Issues and Societal Impact

Growth of software and networking technologies have enhanced the interaction between several communities and have eventually led to the rise of social networking websites. Websites supporting chatting and e-mail services are regarded as important Social Networking Sites (SNS). In recent times many websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Linkedln, Twitter, Skyrock, Orkut and others have cropped up. SNS offer their services either free or on subscription to its users. They are increasingly attracting the attention of academics and industry researchers to explore and expand their activities for staying ahead of their counterparts.

SNS facilitate the users to generate their profile in two ways: as `internal social networking', confined to a group of people in a company, association, society, etc., and as `external social networking', open to public and accessible to all web users. SNS allow the users to create groups through which netizens share common interests, upload live videos, exchange knowledge and ideas. Companies consider them as important source for projecting their products through advertisements and in building up their brand image. However, SNS sites have several legal issues related to privacy, identity and security. Cyber bullying is considered one major menace of SNS where trespassers continuously send threatening messages, hate speech, distorted photographs with an intention to harm the receivers, especially female teen netizens.

Another important legal issue is the invasion of the privacy of the group members due to the disclosure of personal information and photographs on websites. International communities have expressed their concern over the potential misuse of personal information by the online predators despite security measures initiated by the SNS. Both government and citizens perceive this as harmful to children and teen netizens and are in favor of restricting access to such sites at the global level. However, the lack of consensus among different groups, authorities and non-conformity of cyber laws across various nations have provided more scope for online harassment and abuse of teenagers. The occurrence of such incidents are observed more in the western countries compared to Asia.

In addition to the stricter enforcement of cyber laws, imparting education, circulating proper guidelines to handle SNS, avoiding hosting of critical information on the Internet, parental care and interaction with the teens are considered as remedial measures to control online harassment instead of restricting access to the SNS or installing monitoring machines to the computers. SNS can be a better platform for international communities in sharing of knowledge and information especially in the business, medical and educational areas.

The paper, "Distributed Denial-of-Service Attacks Under Public International Law: State Responsibility in Cyberwar" by Stefan Kirchner, explains the various legal and technical aspects associated with distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks under Public International Law. DDoS attacks through computer networks have adverse impact on the functioning of the inter-connected computer systems resulting in the paralysis of the systems linked with local server. States can also be held responsible when the intensity of the DDoS attacks are indicative of State-sponsored terrorism. The amendment of cyber laws and their strict implementation on par with principles of Public International Law of the States aim at regulation of the local laws that reduces the quantum of DDoS attacks.

Darryl Woodford in the paper, "Governing Virtual Worlds: To What Extent is it Possible to Empower Players and Preserve Their Rights in Virtual Worlds, and What is the Best Method of Doing So?", discusses the possibilities of establishing governance in virtual worlds, examines the distinction between inhabitant and resident by discussing the rights of the avatar. The paper highlights players' role in the formation of a code of conduct which shall be enforced `as it is' and not according to the whims and fancies of the administrators.

The paper, "Internet Governance and the Jurisdiction of States: Justification of the Need for an International Regulation of Cyberspace" by Joanna Kulesza, discusses the importance of jurisdictions and their relevance in determining cybercrime prosecution. Evolution of internet technologies has helped the States in tackling computer crimes once beyond their territorial boundaries. The presence of strong internet governance in the States encourages the growth of internet technologies in providing a positive direction and benefiting the public at large.

Tim Wafa in the paper, "Global Internet Privacy Rights: A Pragmatic Approach", discusses the implications of the current global privacy framework on business efficiency. The paper explores the various issues related to global privacy, competing policy motivations, multi-jurisdictional privacy rights and the replacement of privacy rights system with `front-runner' replacement system. It makes a detailed comparative study on the online privacy system prevalent in the US, UK and Asia.

The paper, "Admissibility of Electronic Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: An Outline of the South African Legal Position" by Murdoch Watney, discusses weightage of electronic evidence in the court of law while dealing with criminal cases. It explains the different types of electronic evidences and legal issues concerned with the relevance of electronic evidence especially with regard to admissibility status and its evidential value in resolving criminal disputes. Admissibility of electronic evidence can be regarded as the functional equivalent of traditional evidence. The lack of proper rules and procedures concerned with storage of electronic evidences creates hurdles in the admission of such evidences.

Konstantinos Komaitis in the paper, "Internet Governance: Why Plato is Still Relevant" emphasizes the internet technologies and their impact on the cultural diversity and relativism in the rapidly changing societal environment. The adoption of internet governance poses new challenges in its implementation and in protecting the interests of various sections of the society. The existence of various customs and its effects within the society of internet governance are very critical in resolving conflicts and in determining the dynamics of social structure which contributes to its progress.

The paper, "Australia's Internet Filtering Proposal in the International Context" by Alana Maurushat and Renée Watt, explains various initiatives taken by the Australian Government to safeguard and project internet as a safe and secured medium. The cybersafety program, referred to as `Cleanfeed', mandates the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to install required software for filtering prescribed list of websites related to child abuse, pornography, etc., in both text and image form. It emphasizes different means of filtering such as URL backlists and content filters and their significance in controlling the accessibility to unauthorized sites.

-- C Sri Krishna
Consulting Editor