Social Media in Emergencies: An examination of government accountability for risk communication and warning

Emergency management agencies and government authorities increasingly use social media to warn the public of emergencies. The aim of this thesis is to provide clarification where there is uncertainty about liability, and to address concerns as to how the law will be applied. It does this by examining the responsibility of those entities to warn. It considers whether they are likely to be held legally accountable for their acts or omissions when using social media. The thesis also seeks to provide good practice principles for the use of emerging communication technologies