Free-ish speech online

Where does the line fall between your right to free speech and your employer's right to protect its reputation? The world is still figuring that out.

In case you missed it, the National Labor Relations Board won an important lawsuit against American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc last week. The NLRB had sued the company after it fired a worker who had turned to her Facebook page to vent her frustrations about her boss.

As a result of its loss in court, American Medical Response will change its blogging and Internet policies, as well as two other policies that forbade employees to say negative things about the company over the Internet, according to an article for the AP.

The decision is believed to inspire employers around the country to review their Internet policies. However, while this case helps set a precedent for free speech on the Internet--particularly when it involves the workplace, don't take it as a free pass to go spouting off about your employer online. The jury is still out when it comes to just how far employee rights to free speech extend on social media.

"'The line can go over into disloyalty or disclosure of truly confidential information'" warned a labor and employment lawyer for the NLRB, "'this is not without boundaries, but we just don't have a good sense yet of where the boundaries are.'"

It seems that we as a society are still adapting old laws to a new world dominated by online media, and it is a tough course to navigate. While it looks as though steps are being taken to ensure employees' rights to free speech on social media, err on the side of caution when posting about your employer.

I recommend only saying things that you wouldn't be ashamed to repeat in person.

Twitter Gets Sued

What is your first reaction to hearing the statement "Twitter gets sued?" Mine was something along the lines of, "If Twitter turns into Facebook..." and my thoughts trailed off into various options of what I would do if my favorite social media site was to turn into the controversial social media giant. Facebook is well known for users and companies rebelling against its practices. But Twitter?

I found an article on TechCrunch, ironically through Twitter, about the law suit being filed against the social media site. This is where the story gets even better. Twitter is being sued for allowing celebrities to interact online through its social media site.

Take a moment and let that sink in.

Celebrities are people too, right? Not according to VS Technologies who is suing Twitter. VS Technologies has a patent claiming ownership of "method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people."

TechCrunch asks, "For real?" For real.

Read the article to gain some insight into the law suit. Do you think VS Technologies stands a chance in winning this law suit? After reading the article, I don't think so.