Is content posted on social media considered public or private?
In Washington, the law with regards to social media content is that it is considered public by default. This means that whatever content is posted online can be seen by anyone anywhere in the world, and anyone can save and share it. Unless appropriate privacy settings are used to protect the content, then anything posted online is seen as public. In terms of privacy, social media sites provide users with various settings which allow them to make their posts visible to a more limited audience, such as friends and family members. For example, Facebook has a feature called “restricted posts”, which allow users to limit the people who can see their posts, such as by age, gender, or location. The Washington government also has laws in place that protect certain types of social media content. For example, information about a person’s medical records, education records, or child custody arrangements must remain private, even if it is posted online. Ultimately, the law in Washington state is that content posted on social media is considered public by default, but users are encouraged to take advantage of the available privacy settings to protect their content if they wish to keep it private.
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