Social Media Law: A Field Guide to the Legal Stack

55 questions on social media law, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are platform terms of service actually enforceable?
• Can a business use a contract clause to stop customers from posting negative reviews?
• Can an employer demand an employee's social media password?
• Can an employer fire an employee for complaining about work on social media?
• Can a public official block critics on social media?
• Can I find out who is behind an anonymous account attacking my business?
• Can I repost a photo I found on social media?
• Did the Supreme Court decide whether Section 230 covers recommendation algorithms?
• Does a business running social ads owe duties under state privacy laws?
• Does an advertiser need to substantiate claims made in an influencer's post?
• Does a public figure face a higher bar in an online defamation case?
• Does embedding a social media post infringe copyright?
• Does Section 230 protect individual users, not just companies?
• Does U.S. law govern a post that is viewed abroad?
• Do platform promotion guidelines matter legally?
• Has the NLRB applied Section 7 protection to specific social media conduct?
• How does the DMCA notice-and-counter-notice exchange work?
• How should a business prevent a fight over account ownership?
• How should an employer draft a social media policy that survives NLRB scrutiny?
• How should you read a platform's license grant?
• Is a parody account legally protected?
• Should a business register copyright in its social media content?
• What are the daily habits that prevent most social media legal trouble for a business?
• What bodies of law does a single social media post touch?
• What counts as a material connection that must be disclosed?
• What did Moody v. NetChoice signal about content moderation?
• What does Section 230 actually say?
• What does the FTC's 2024 rule on consumer reviews prohibit?
• What exceptions do state password-protection statutes preserve?
• What is an anti-SLAPP statute, and why does it matter for online criticism?
• What is BIPA, and why does it matter for social media?
• What is “jawboning,” and where is the constitutional line?
• What is the efficient playbook when you find an account impersonating your business?
• What is the “material contribution” standard for losing Section 230 immunity?
• What is the right of publicity, and when does it come up on social media?
• What is the three-part test for Section 230 immunity?
• What legal tools address a fake account impersonating a person or business?
• What makes an influencer disclosure “clear and conspicuous”?
• What makes an online statement defamatory?
• What makes a social media post “protected concerted activity”?
• What must a plaintiff show under the Dendrite/Cahill unmasking test?
• What must a service do to earn the DMCA safe harbor?
• What must official rules for a promotion cover?
• What parts of social media law are still genuinely unsettled?
• What should a site do when it receives a valid DMCA notice about user content?
• What was the Cubby/Stratton Oakmont problem Congress fixed with Section 230?
• When does a government official's social media activity become state action?
• When does an online message become an unprotected “true threat”?
• When does a social media giveaway become an illegal lottery?
• When must a sweepstakes be registered and bonded?
• Where does Section 230 immunity stop?
• Who owns a company social media account when the person who ran it leaves?
• Who owns a photo you post to social media?
• Why doesn't Section 230 protect a site from copyright claims over user uploads?
• Why do influencers have to disclose sponsored posts?