ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ethical questions raised around use of UGC and social media that have still not been resolved—whether those who create content are treated respectfully in terms of copyright, credits and having their privacy respected. It focuses on the European Convention on Human Rights, UK examples and comparison with the US.
This chapter looks at the intellectual property rights creators of UGC may have, and outlines key questions journalists need to ask before reproducing images and text. It looks at defences against copyright such as freedom of expression, fair use and fair dealing. It also discusses the problems of establishing full and informed consent from those caught up in a disaster.
This leads on to a discussion of privacy, and the legal, ethical and professional norms this encompasses. If a mainstream media organisation reproduces a social media post this can lead to a breakdown of privacy, breaching of contextual integrity and the formation of a new artefact, which has consequences for the original creator. It compares the US and UK experience on content acquisition and content dissemination, and recent rulings in the UK on mainstream media’s reproduction of tweets. Finally, it looks at the use of graphic imagery that mainstream media may show and how they are dealing with the growth of livestreaming platforms—such as the 2015 Bangkok blast on Periscope and recent Facebook Live ‘events’ such as the 2017 beating of a disabled man in Chicago.
