Online Social Networking and the Right to Privacy: The Conflicting Rights of Privacy and Expression

The advancement of Information Technology has hastened the ability to disseminate information across the globe. In particular, the recent trends in ‘Social Networking’ have led to a spark in personally sensitive information being published on the World Wide Web. While such socially active websites are creative tools for expressing one's personality it also entails serious privacy concerns. Thus, Social Networking websites could be termed a double edged sword. It is important for the law to keep abreast of these developments in technology. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the limits of extending existing laws to battle privacy intrusions in the Internet especially in the context of social networking. It is suggested that privacy specific legislation is the most appropriate means of protecting online privacy. In doing so it is important to maintain a balance between the competing right of expression, the failure of which may hinder the reaping of benefits offered by Internet technology.