Social Media: The Generation Gap Judge Christine Harapiak Provincial Court of Manitoba
1981
August 1982
Talk to Strangers!
• Independence • Integrity • Diligence • Equality • Impartiality
Poll Question Has anyone ever uploaded images of you to the Internet? 1. Yes 2. No
someone else uploads intimate photos of you onto a website
ACJ Lori Douglas
nude photos of Douglas were taken by her husband, Lawyer Jack King, and uploaded to a website - Chapman was directed to it
Lawyer Jack King
Client Alex Chapman
“A live issue in the CJC inquiry into Justice Douglas is whether or not she disclosed the existence of the photographs as part of her application to join the judiciary.” Sossin & Bacal supra
canary in a coal mine • "The ...judicial investigation into the conduct of Justice Lori Douglas represents...a particular kind of canary in a particular kind of coal mine. • Soon, it will be hard to imagine a judicial appointee who does not bring significant social media baggage of one kind or another." Sossin & Bacal, "Judicial Ethics in a Digital Age" (2013) 46:3 UBC L Rev 629 at 622-23
#icanneverbeajudge
What's in your digital baggage?
"Over time...this unfamiliarity with digital baggage will disappear. We think it will be only in the most egregious cases that a judicial nominee's digital baggage will be disqualifying (for example, where it contains evidence of unlawful activity). There is no reason to think that the judicial oath will be any less significant as a rite of passage with a candidate's digital baggage than with other roles they have taken on in the past..." – Sossin & Bacal supra
Poll Question Have you ever mistakenly posted on someone's Facebook wall instead of sending a private message? 1. Yes 2. No
you post on a Facebook wall thinking you are sending a private message
Inadvertently posted criticism of fellow judges on prosecutor's Facebook page Justice Dianne Nichol
“Restricted judicial use of social media...appears to be the burgeoning direction of most jurisdictions as views on the point crystallize. In this vein, mandatory social media training can assist in further fleshing out the content of such proportional or least restrictive restrictions, with particular emphasis on the indelible nature of ESM, the illusory perception of anonymity that tends to embolden unnecessarily and the risk of third-party use of replicated posts.".” –Professor Karen Eltis, University of Ottawa "Does Avoiding Judicial Isolation Outweigh the Risks Related to 'Professional Death by Facebook?'" 2014 Laws636, online: http:/www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/3/4/636
Poll Question Did you use social media prior to becoming a judge? 1. Yes 2. No
you tweet unflattering things, not thinking you may run for office one day
2015
Federal election - videos surface of candidate making crank calls - pretending to be disabled in one call Dropped as candidate
Manitoba provincial election - misogynistic tweets by candidate
Candidate Resigns
Star candidate's homophobic and misogynistic tweets/rap lyrics surface - no resignation
Candidate wins
The Use of Social Media by Canadian Judicial Officers • Canadian Centre for Court Technology • Published May 2015
Context - social media usage • Forum Research Poll for 2015 • Facebook 59% • Instagram 16% • Linked In 30% • Twitter 25%
Judges? Visit in personal capacity more than once a day to rarely
contribute in personal capacity
visit in professional capacity
contribute in a professional capacity
Sossin and Bacal - key content for guidelines should include • Definition of Social Media • Freedom to participate subject to precautions • Duty to understand any SM used • Be aware of court's SM policies and practices • Be accountable for conduct on SM • Be aware of conflict issues on SM • Understand "personal" activity will reflect on judiciary
Plug into the work wide web but remember your safety hat!
"In the meantime as all of us stumble over the challenges of living in a world without forgetting we need to learn new forms of empathy, new ways of defining ourselves without reference to what others say about us, and new ways of forgiving one another for the digital trails that will follow us forever." –Professor Jeffrey Rosen "The End of Forgetting" NY Times July 21st, 2010
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