Introduction
Welcome by Jeff Jarvis
If you’re running a citizen media site or contributing to one, these 10 rules will help you avoid potential legal piftalls. Get advice in videos from Harvard Berkman Center experts and Media Law Resource Center attorneys. Module produced by Geanne Rosenberg, associate professor at City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism and Baruch College. Read the press release from CUNY.
Internet participation has exploded across blogs, social networks and citizen media sites. At the same time, lawsuits with sometimes scary damages claims are sparking anxiety. Whether you’re a blogger, Facebook member, hyperlocal citizen journalist, or occasional Web site contributor, how can you protect yourself against legal risk?
We invite you to click on the rules for information, videos, quizzes, animations, blogs and other resources to help you stay legally safe.
But first, some context from the United States Supreme Court:
Those who won our independence believed… that public discussion is a political duty, and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government… [T]hey knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies, and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones. Believing in the power of reason as applied through public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law — the argument of force in its worst form. Recognizing the occasional tyrannies of governing majorities, they amended the Constitution so that free speech and assembly should be guaranteed.
— New York Times v. Sullivan, 1964, quoting Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
Disclaimer
This module is based on laws in the United States. Please note that even within the United States, laws from jurisdiction to jurisdiction vary considerably and laws and their interpretation are subject to change. Information is offered for educational purposes. Do not rely on this module or any of its related content or communications as a substitute for the advice of a qualified attorney. No attorney-client relationship is intended or created by communications pertaining to this site or its related content, interactive features, blogs or e-mail.
Please e-mail Geanne, with any comments, updates or corrections.
(c) This module is copyrighted by Geanne Perlman Rosenberg.