Facebook is the largest “nation” in the world, with more than 1.65 billion users across the globe. Not surprisingly then, with such global reach, Facebook is in the headlines fairly often.
In terms of Facebook news items, a recent example includes a Thai criminal court putting a man in prison for six years because he posted comments on Facebook that were construed to be insulting to the king of Thailand. The court so ruled because the law of Thailand criminalizes statements that are defamatory, insulting or threatening to the Thai royalty.
On a lighter Facebook news note, President Obama has been recognized as the most “liked” politician on the social media network. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes in second place with 31 million likes on his Facebook page, President Obama ranks first with in excess of 46 million likes on his Facebook page.
And when it comes to Facebook “likes,” Facebook relatively soon is reported to be rolling out other emotion buttons. Rather than only a like button, users perhaps will have access to buttons such as love, sad, angry and other emotions. Imagine, users will have options when it comes to emotion buttons! This makes abundant sense, as it can be highly awkward to click on the like button when responding to someone’s sad post on Facebook.
Last but not least for now, Facebook has announced that it is banning on its site the sale of firearms that can bypass background checks. Well, phew, that is good news! Some of us did not even know that such sales were happening in the first place.
Undoubtedly, Facebook will continue to show up in the news going forward. Stay tuned.
Eric Sinrod (@EricSinrod on Twitter) is of counsel in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP, where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. You can read his professional biography here. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod’s columns, please email him at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com with Subscribe in the Subject line. This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm or its individual partners.