Stateline Midwest

Illinois lawmakers have added a layer of privacy protection for workers by forbidding employers from requesting information that would give them access to an individual’s social-networking account.

House Rep. Jeffrey Thompson of Louisiana's District 8 recently sponsored House Bill 249, the first bill in the nation to require sex offenders and child predators to identify themselves as such on any social networking site they use.

An important rule of thumb when communicating online is that nothing is ever truly private.  Anything you post, such as private message or emails, can be screen-captured and posted online as images.  Anything you put online could live forever even if you try to delete it.  The Anthony Weiner case is a classic example. 

The world of technology is change so quickly that it’s often difficult to keep up.

For that reason, Amy Webb, CEO of Webbmedia Group, said it’s particularly important for legislators to understand all the new activities the digital world creates.

“This is particularly important to me that you understand the world you’re legislating for is changing every day,” she told attendees at The Council of State Governments’ National Leadership Conference May 19. “People legislating don’t understand enough the implications of the technologies we’re using and the way these technologies are changing our society.”

Politics can be a strange thing, said Brian Selander, a 2011 Toll Fellow and chief strategy officer for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell.  “The weird thing about politics though, public service, is if you walk into a room of 100 people, 30 of them hate you,” he said. “I mean hate you—if you were laying bleeding on the side of a road, they’d stop to steal your wallet hate you. You’re really popular; that means 70 percent of the people don’t hate you like that. You’ve got to have thick skin to walk into a room and know that even if you’re the most popular person in Idaho Falls, there’s still 15 percent of Idaho Falls that’s going to dislike you no matter what.”

While social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can give policymakers and candidates for public office important tools to communicate with constituents and voters, they also can present numerous pitfalls to avoid.  That was one of the messages for participants in the Social Media Boot Camp session last week at The Council of State Governments’ National Leadership Conference in La Quinta, Calif.

Today, The Council of State Governments joined The National Emergency Management Association and eight other organizations representing state and local government officials to urge Congress to consider key principles while developing legislation to protect the nation’s information infrastructure.

Social media has changed the public's expectations of privacy, but a backlash has risen against employers' requests for access to current and potential employees' personal social media accounts.  Schools have also faced similar controversies for attempting to exercise control over students' online behavior.  Several state leaders from across the country have written legislation to address these concerns and ensure the privacy of personal social media accounts.  The proposed bills protect, at a minimum, employees from having to turn over personal social media account information.