In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Twitter celebrity death hoaxes, how scammers are using Facebook to dupe victims, and three interesting legal cases.

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Adam Sandler Becomes Most Recent Victim of Twitter Celebrity Death Hoax

Comedian and actor Adam Sandler became the latest in a long line of celebrities to be proclaimed dead on Twitter. The popular microblogging website, which topped 190 million users this past summer, is widely celebrated for spreading breaking news quickly. Unfortunately, the site is also known for spreading false rumors, as the “Retweet” function allows users to spread stories quickly without necessarily verifying them.

Cheerleaders Sue School Over Cyberbullying Claims

Demonstrating the complicated and litigious nature of cyberbullying cases, two high school students in Southwest Missouri have “filed a lawsuit claiming their constitutional rights were violated when they were removed from a high school cheerleading squad for alleged cyberbullying.” The lawsuit claims “a breach of their rights to free speech, due process, freedom of association and privacy.”

Scammers Use Fake Facebook Friendships to Commit Cyber Crimes

This article in the Kansas City Star talks about a sneaky new class of cybercriminals on Facebook, who use the credibility of the site to pose as real users in order to scam people out of money. Quoting from the article, “cybercriminals on Facebook today come cloaked as real friends sending messages asking you to wire them money in a foreign country or posting a note on your wall with a funny video that’s really a dangerous link. The scammers are smart, sneaky and hoping you fall for their tricks.” The article also goes into detail on how Facebook and law enforcement officials are trying to stay ahead of these scammers, but wisely recommends that the best away to avoid them is to use caution and common sense online.

Student Wins One Dollar in Settlement with School Over Free Speech Lawsuit

Two years ago, Katie Evans was suspended from her high school after writing that her AP English teacher was “the worst she ever had” on her Facebook page. The school claimed that Evans’ message constituted cyberbullying, while Evans believed that her comments were well within the limits of free speech and that her suspension was unjustified. After her high school principal failed to have her case thrown out in court, the school reached an agreement with Katie that agreed to pay her $15,000 in lawyer fees and $1 in nominal damages.

Apple Faces Lawsuits Over App Privacy Leaks

According to multiple reports, “Apple and five other companies have been accused of allowing applications on the iPhone and iPad to transmit users’ personal information to advertising networks without consent,” according to a recently filed legal complaint. The lawsuit, which was filed just before Christmas, alleges that the devices’ Unique Device Identifiers, or UDIDs, gathered and gave away more information than users approved.