Who is Influencing the #GDPR Discussion on Twitter: Implications for Public Relations

Abstract

On May 25, 2018, the European Union (EU) implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect individuals' privacy and data. This regulation has far-reaching implications as it applies to any organization that deals with data of EU residents. By studying the discussion about this regulation on Twitter, our goal is to examine public opinions and organizational public relations (PR) strategies about GDPR. The results show that the regulation is being actively discussed by a variety of stakeholders, but especially by cybersecurity and IT-related firms and consultants. At the same time, some of the stakeholders that were expected to have a more active role were less involved, including companies that store or process personal data, government and regulatory bodies, mainstream media, and academics. The results also show that the stakeholders mostly have one-way rather than two-way communication with their audiences, thus fulfilling the rhetorical than relational function of PR.

When GDPR Meets CRAs (Credit Reference Agencies): Looking through the Lens of Twitter

“…In a similar study, Grudz et al studied the discussion about the GDPR in a broad sense with the aim of examining public opinions and organizational public relations strategies about the GDPR [10]. Researchers collected tweets with the hashtag #gdpr and applied social network analysis to find opinion leaders.…”

“…Their results indicate that the GDPR is being actively discussed by a variety of stakeholders, but especially by cyber-security and IT-related firms and consultants. One of the most interesting finding has been reported as that some of the stakeholders that were expected to have a more active role were less involved, including companies that store or process personal data, government and regulatory bodies, mainstream media, and academics [10].…”

Introduction to the Minitrack on Digital and Social Media in Enterprise

“…First, the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the European Union (EU) on May 25, 2018, has generated active discussion by a variety of stakeholders. In their article titled "Who is Influencing the #GDPR Discussion on Twitter: Implications for Public Relations," Gruzd, Abul-Fottouh, and Mashatan [4] analyze the discussions about this regulation on Twitter and examine public opinions and organizational public relations (PR) strategies. The results show that cybersecurity and IT-related firms and consultants were actively involved in the discussion, but not other stakeholders, including companies that store or process personal data, government and regulatory bodies, mainstream media, and academics-were found less involved.…”

Tension between GDPR and Public Blockchains: A Data-Driven Analysis of Online Discussions

“…In one of the related studies [23], Gruzd et al studied GDPRrelated discussions to examine public opinions and organizational public relations (PR) strategies about the GDPR. For this purpose, they collected all public tweets mentioning the #GDPR hashtag during a period of 6 months.…”

“…It was reported that the GDPR was being actively discussed by a variety of stakeholders, especially by cyber security and IT-related firms and consultants. However, some of the stakeholders that were expected to have a more active role were salient, which included companies that store or process personal data, government and regulatory bodies, mainstream media, and academics [23].…”