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False Light Over Social Media

False Light refers to “publishing distortions of the truth or fictionalized accounts that give an incorrect impression about a person (Freedom of Speech)”. It seems like in our modern age, this has become a common occurrence. For example, there are so many Instagram pages that pretend to be real people, and post pictures that may be extremely inappropriate. These Instagram pages are showing these people, not as who they really are, but in a false manner. If these are so common, then can people argue that this is false light? I would argue that they are, but the only problem is, how do you know that you are being published on the world wide web in an inappropriate manner? Celebrities are often mocked all the time on fake accounts with their name and pictures on it. How do we know when there is a case for false light if this is so common? What makes false light more common now than ever before is social media. It will continue to grow and grow into the future. One big issue is that people believe that they are on untouchable on the internet. They hide behind veils of anonymity, believing they can do and say whatever they want. It is in fact, a very serious offense, because personally I would never want anyone imitating me on the internet without my consent. They could be saying some very damaging things that would affect my future employment, or opportunities. Sometimes, false light can hurt businesses because very opinionated people can go alone and post all over social media about something that happened to them, but may be exaggerate it or twist it a little in their favor. As a business owner, that would be extremely frustrating because it can really hurt your business (especially small business) which could lead to bankruptcy and the closing of a business. False light can occur in any scenario, just like an article I read that talked about how a customer went to twitter complaining very harshly about a certain employee’s customer service. This employee decided she would sue for defamation and false light to her name. She was proved guilty of false light and defamation, because she could have handled the situation in any other way. This goes to show; you need to learn to be careful when it comes to depicting someone else over social media. There are so many other, morally acceptable ways to do so. How would you feel if someone was telling the whole world something false about you, and it affected you in your everyday life, including your career? My guess is not to happy, and you would take these allegations very seriously.

http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2013/10/twitter_faceboo.htm



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