Facebook Expert Witness:
Social Media Lawsuit Partner
Facebook has become all-pervasive, changing the way people of all ages communicate, but the social media platform has also opened up a wild west of legal issues, for both civil and criminal cases. Aggravating the situation, the technology and its effects are rather new and courts are still hammering out legal issues ranging from users’ behavior on Facebook to Facebook’s own practices. To navigate these issues, Facebook expert witnesses are invaluable.
These experts are essential in a variety of court cases. They offer testimony and compile reports for cases involving defamation, cyberbullying and harassment, intellectual property infringement (copyright and trademark), privacy issues, misinformation, and a variety of other cases using Facebook evidence.
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Partner with a Facebook expert witness to strengthen your court case involving Facebook.
What is a Facebook Expert Witness and Why Might You Need One?
Facebook expert witnesses possess expertise on Facebook, its uses, algorithms, policies, and the many ways all these spring up in court cases. These experts testify and compile reports explaining how the social media platform works and affects related parties.
Depending on the case, their work may include digital forensics to measure the spread and reach of posts, collection of evidence to establish timelines, and analysis and comment on the effect posts have on clients or others.
Social media expert witnesses also offer a second technology-specific viewpoint alongside attorneys. If you are concerned about any legal issues involving Facebook, contact us today for a quick and simple consultation.
What Qualifications Does a Facebook Expert Witness Have?
Social media expert witnesses typically have a background in digital marketing, social media advertising, search engine optimization, online reputation management, or software engineering. Their work requires a general understanding of how courts operate and how cases proceed. Importantly, these witnesses must have the ability to explain complex technology in layman’s terms to judges and juries.
At the same time, like any witness, they must be trustworthy. A solid industry background, membership in professional organizations, and various certifications help establish their credibility before clients and courts.
Common Legal Disputes Involving Facebook
Social media has made defamation easier and more widespread than ever before, and Facebook leads the way. Whether it’s an unhappy customer, a disgruntled former employee, or friends in a dispute, comments and posts often get quickly out of hand. And it takes only a click of a button to cause serious damage. People often don’t take the time to think about the results of their complaints.
Facebook is a powerful communications tool that is unfortunately often abused. On a personal level, this might be the posting of embarrassing or false information about a person. On a business level, this might be a business attacking competitors to harm their reputation. Users have also created fake accounts for people and companies, accounts posting defamatory content meant to harm reputations. All of these situations might wind up in court.
Copyright and trademark infringement are common on social media, and Facebook’s longer posts make the problem worse. Social media users often get the false impression that since anything can be shared, anything goes. Facebook expert witnesses can analyze posts, comments, and other activity on the site to identify and document infringement, whether it’s copyright violations, copied logos, misuse of company names, or misappropriation of trade secret.
Conflicts sometimes arise over ownership of content posted on social media; disagreements that find their way into courts. Like all social media platforms, Facebook presents users with its “terms of service,” which, like all “terms of service” pages, go largely unread, and that leads to disputes.
For example, if an executive hires an illustrator for an advertising post, who owns the work, and who has what rights to it? The illustrator, the executive, the executive’s employer, or the social media platform used? Facebook expert witnesses understand both the site’s terms of service and the issues that commonly arise.
Many other problems make their way into courts, including user privacy, surveillance, fake news content, and political manipulation. What information can social media platforms share? What responsibilities do platforms have for flagging misinformation, social media bots, or foreign entities posing as something they’re not for political manipulation? These questions have loomed large in recent years and have been taken up not just in courts but also in Congress.
How a Facebook Expert Witness Can Help Your Cases
The scope of tasks a Facebook expert witness might carry out is broad and differs from case to case. Here are some of the more common functions.
Interpretation of Facebook policies
From online defamation to ownership of content, interpretation and explanation of Facebook’s policies comes into play in many types of cases.
Analysis of user activity on Facebook
This might be used to discover a pattern of behavior to establish intent or to establish a timeline.
Assessment of user privacy concerns on Facebook
Questions over user privacy are continually being taken up in courts and legislatures in numerous jurisdictions, for Facebook, Google, and other platforms. Just understanding the differing outlooks of various jurisdictions is a task in itself. For example, European regulators have taken a much stronger position on protecting privacy than their US counterparts.
Computer forensics and technical support
This might be used for gathering evidence in criminal cases or for judging the spread and reach of content—and assessing damages —in defamation cases.
Consultation and pre-litigation research
Expert witnesses generally have specialized knowledge that attorneys do not. This is especially true with social media and technology experts. This makes them indispensable in planning legal strategies and preparing cases.
Facebook analytics and review of evidence
Facebook expert witnesses can determine the viral reach of content and damage caused, essential in cases of defamation and cyberbullying. They can also assess the quality of social media evidence used in cases.
Preparation of expert witness reports
These reports lay out in writing, for judges and juries, the technical explanation in elements of cases, from establishing or denying liability to the methodology used in assessing damages.
Expert opinions and expert testimony
Here, the expert witness testifies before the court, explaining technical concepts and the findings of their analysis. They are often also cross-examined by opposing counsel.
Why Should I Partner With a Facebook Expert Witness?
Just as attorneys advise clients on questions about laws, social media expert witnesses advise on legal aspects of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms. Advice may be about chances of proving a legal argument or how to avoid legal issues in the future. For any case involving Facebook, an expert witness specializing in the social media crisis management often becomes a key member of the legal team.
Facing a Court Case Related to Facebook?
Contact Blue Ocean Global Technology to schedule a consultation with a Facebook expert witness and gain valuable insights for your case.
