Kevin's Media Law Blog

During this unfortunate event we are facing globally, I wanted to find out how the Coronavirus has impacted social media consumption since the start of this nasty pandemic. As you can already imagine, millions upon millions of people are in isolation following the Coronavirus safety protocol. With millions of people in their homes every day, I wanted to see if the numbers in social media increased or decreased depending on the specific platform.  I started off with looking into Instagram engagements since the beginning of March. Instagram engagements were decreased dramatically following the first two weeks of the pandemic. Interesting enough, Alcohol brands saw a spike in engagements due to people drinking in their homes. Food and beverage companies experienced a slight engagement and are returning to normal. Influencers engagements, however, are declining at a rapid rate. With no significant signs of improvement, this is the lowest we have seen Instagram influencers engage...

While examining the terms and concepts on Blackboard I had one term pop out to me almost instantly and that term was Whistleblower. A whistleblower is a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. A Whistleblower can be good or bad depending on the information being leaked to the general public. Whistleblowers can benefit the general public in many different ways! For examples, whistleblowing benefits include workplace safety, good corporate culture, and it serves as a precaution for Workplace bullying/harassment. However, whistleblowers can also have a negative effect or impact on the general public. Some negatives that can result from whistleblowing are harm, individual harm, public trust damage, and a threat of national security.  Whistleblowers have been known for pointing out unethical or even illegal activity a person or an organization commits. Not all whistleblowers become famous from exposing their target, but whistleblowers do keep...

Ted Talks on Privacy online and offline  After watching these various TED Talks, I started to realize how scary technology can truly be, especially in our society today. In the first video, Catherine Crump explains how police and surveillance technology for our local police departments may be giving away sensitive information. NSA styled mass surveillance is allowing our local departments to gather vast quantitates of information about us, that was never possible in such way before. Even our motor vehicles can keep track of our locations. One of the key technologies driving mass location tracking is the automatic license plate reader. Automatic license plate readers take a picture of every single license plate and keeps it on record, even if you’re not doing anything wrong. Local police then keep a record of the different times your license plate has been captured by their system.  Christopher Soghoian is our second guest who explains the dangers of telephone surveill...

When it comes to my digital footprint, I would say I have a decent one. Although I do not have my own personal website, I still interact on various social media applications and platforms across the web. Some social media platforms that I am currently on are Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and GroupMe. On my Instagram I primarily put up photos of my friends and I, pictures from traveling or pictures that I enjoy in general. On snapchat I primarily use it as another way to contact friends other than calling or text messaging them. Snapchat for me is a platform to stay in touch with friends in different time zones. Platforms such as LinkedIn could be extremely vital for job hunting after graduating college, so I try to keep my profile visually appealing and professional as possible. GroupMe is another great platform when it comes to communicating with others. If you have a large group of people, GroupMe is perfect for you. GroupMe allows messaging among created groups, and you can put a...

Eight values of Free expression  I had a tough time when it came to picking out one Free Expression that I may value over another. When it came to me narrowing down my decision, I decided to go with the Marketplace of Ideas (aka Discovery of Truth.)    T his value was first suggested by Milton, who first said that when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out. And the grappling makes the truth even stronger. His argument against requiring a license to print/publish. I am in love with every single component of this Free Expression value. This value in more simple terms is explaining how the truth and lies about a situation are to remain free, up in the air, and that the truth will always win out. This speaks high volumes to me because I’ve always lived by a quote similar to this one with the result being the truth always wins. I personally think there’s a time and place for lying, and not necessarily that its bad thing overall, but ...

W7 EOTO: Blogging on classmates technology. A really interesting technology that really surprised me was Paul's Presentation on the carrier pigeon. We were assigned into the same group for the project but I was still in love with his overall topic. Personally, I find it so intriguing that we were able to use pigeons to carry messages for us. The way that humans were able to cage these birds, tie a message to them, and have them carry out that message is incredible. Another remarkable thing about these carrier pigeons is that they led to war-time communication. These pigeons went on to be used as communication devices in the war. Pigeons were even drafted into the military just like men are. Carrier pigeons helped communicate where enemy outposts were during WWII. Even the outcomes of the Olympic Games were sent to Athens by carrier pigeons! We then run into the limitations and downfalls that a carrier pigeon possess. Carrier pigeons are animals and therefore they will be hunte...

EOTO Com Tech Timeline I had the pleasure of working with Gabby, Sam, Rebecca, and Paul on our group presentation of the Frist Camera Phone, Emoticon, Email, Carrier pigeons and Newspaper.  For my part of the projected I was assigned the First Newspaper. The first known printed weekly Newspaper was published in 1605, in Rome. It was named the Roman Acta Diurna which can be translated to “Daily Public Records.” The publishing of the Roman Acta Diurna was ordered under the ruling of Julius Caesar. When we think of newspaper our minds go straight to what we know, information and news on paper. The Roman Acta Diurna was in fact the same model, but it was carved on stone or metal. The Roman Acta Diurna was presented in public places like the Forum of Rome, public markets, or thermal baths so people could be updated on the latest public access events, and insights of political life. Other news that could be found were astrological readings and news of war.  The Roman Acta...

When it comes to war, many Americans have different viewpoints and emotions than others. When we explore websites such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative, we notice that their strong antiwar voices never seem to reach the mainstream media.  I primarily think that antiwar voices (such as the ones shown on these websites) don’t generally make mainstream media due to the amount of money and funding our United States Military receives. With millions upon millions of dollars in spending, the average American wants to be shown that their safety is the number one priority when it comes to war related media. The American people want to recognize that their money is going towards something that will benefit them. Some antiwar voices and messages may not reach mainstream media due to their lack of knowledge or understanding of the topic pertaining to war. Antiwar voices are not immediately shut down or shunned, some are even taken into consideration. The top priority is the...

On September 5th, an unsecured online cloud based server leaked a database of Facebook user phone numbers, this  links the name and purported phone number of Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.  Mark Zuckerberg among others on the Facebook team experienced the hack and leaks portrayed by this unsecured server. When the CNET called the leaked number it rang straight to voicemail.The CNET then decided to redact the number.  Elliott Murray, a cybersecurity researcher in the UK, discovered that this leak may have been caused by data that was scraped up by Facebook in a recent, but  now-defunct feature that allowed users to look each other up by phone number. Murray also was  able to match a known phone number of a Facebook user provided by CNET with the correct name in the publicly accessible database. With this discovery, we as media consumers now know the dangers that an unsecured serves and unprotected databases may have. Many consumer...

After watching the videos, we now know or may have already known that the Supreme Court is the highest judicial court in the United States. The Supreme court of the United states remains the most powerful judicial body on earth. The supreme court interprets a 200-year-old constitution, safeguarding liberty, preserving the union and upholding the rule of law. In all of American history, there have been just over 100 supreme court justices, serving an average of 16 years. If there is ever a vacancy in the Supreme Court, the President of the United states then has the power to nominate a justice. This nomination must be approved by the United States Senate .   The Supreme Court receives more than 100 new cases every week and about 7000 every year. The court only accepts very few of these cases for full consideration, about 100 per year. The justices meet weekly in conference to discuss which cases the courts will decide to pursue.   In the second video, Journalist Antho...

      When we primarily think of the First Amendment, we don't generally think of the impact it has in the sporting community. Lately in the sporting community, we as fans have witnessed many protests that convey the practices of free speech. Colin Kaepernick is famously known for his ability as a professional football player, but over the past years he has protested against police brutality and has been a heavy advocate for the All Lives Matter campaign. Kaepernick has taken full advantage of his first amendment rights and is speaking out on a platform that could potentially reach millions upon millions of viewers. According to ESPN.com the National Football League (NFL) has recently created a new policy claiming that all players and coaches must be standing during the national anthem. This may come as a surprise as the NBA, WNBA, NCAA, and MLB have no policy official policy regarding this matter. Other leagues such as Major League Soccer "highly encourages," it'...

     Hi everyone!       My name is Kevin Dillon and I am currently a Junior at High Point University studying Strategic Communications. I am from Seaside Park, New Jersey but most of you will know it as the "Jersey Shore." In my free time I love to surf and I love to play soccer. When I am finished with High Point University I dream to work in an advertising firm or go into Public Relations.