During a conference in Philadelphia last week, law enforcement officials held a panel to discuss the ever-strengthening relationship between law enforcement and social media websites.
As independent journalist Kenneth Lipp reported, officials attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference also mentioned they had partnered with social media organizations, such as Facebook, to stop people from organizing protests.
Lipp reported that while addressing a panel at the convention, an unnamed senior police officer from the Chicago Police Department said his department was working with Facebook’s chief security officer Joe Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor, to permanently block users from the site “if it is determined they have posted what is deemed criminal content.”
A potential block on organizing protests through social media would no doubt raise concerns. For example, social media sites like Twitter played a crucial role in the Arab Spring uprisings, as the sites facilitated activists to openly and quickly express outrage over unjust actions taken by their governments.
“Being capable of sharing an immense amount of uncensored and accurate information throughout social networking sites has contributed to the cause of many Arab Spring activists,” wrote Saleem Kassim in a post on PolicyMic. “Through social networking sites, Arab Spring activists have not only gained the power to overthrow powerful dictatorship, but also helped Arab civilians become aware of the underground communities that exist and are made up of their brothers, and others willing to listen to their stories.
“In countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, rising action plans such as protests made up of thousands, have been organized through social media such Facebook and Twitter. ‘We use Facebook to schedule the protests’ an Arab Spring activist from Egypt announced ‘and [we use] Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world.’ The role that technology has taken in allowing the distribution of public information such as the kinds stated by the aforementioned activist, had been essential in establishing the democratic movement that has helped guide abused civilians to overthrow their oppressor.
“Social networks have broken the psychological barrier of fear by helping many to connect and share information. It has given most people in the Arab world the knowledge that they are not alone, that there are others experiencing just as much brutality, just as much hardships, just as much lack of justice.”
Facebook’s Sullivan was reportedly scheduled to address a group of law enforcement officials on a panel titled “Helping Law Enforcement Respond to Mass Gatherings Spurred by Social Media,” but was unable to attend.
According to the head of the social media group for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 95.9 percent of law enforcement agencies use social media — 86.1 percent use social media for investigative purposes and 81 percent reported that social media has aided law enforcement in successfully prosecuting an individual.
PrivacySOS wrote about the allegations against Facebook in a blog post, asking, “Is Facebook really working with the police to create a kill switch to stop activists from using the website to mobilize support for political demonstrations? How would such a switch function?
“Would Facebook, which reportedly hands over our data to government agencies at no cost, block users from posting on its website simply because the police ask them to? The company has been criticized before for blocking environmentalist and anti-GMO activists from posting, but Facebook said those were mistakes. Let’s hope this is a misunderstanding, too.”
According to Lipp’s report, once a person was blocked from posting to social media sites by the police, they would likely have to get a new computer or phone to post on that site again.
While many law enforcement officials are already using social media as an investigative tool, one top law enforcement official, Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, cautioned his fellow officers that because NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden made the public more aware and suspicious of surveillance techniques used by officials, unrestricted law enforcement use of surveillance technologies may be limited.
Reuters journalist Chris Francescani reported that during his presentation, Keenan said, “The scrutiny that the NSA has come under filters down to us” — meaning local law enforcement officials.
“There will always be a balancing of interest between privacy and information access. That is the nature of the beast. That is not going to change. What the test is for all of us is to keep … things getting out of balance,” he said. “That there be so many restrictions in the use of social media and technology, so many restrictions because of the concerns about privacy, civil liberties, that we lose the use of that technology.”
Keenan continued on to say that 15 years ago, license plate readers made their debut, but now states are beginning to restrict the use of that technology. He said the same thing will likely happen with social media.
“Fast forward to where we’re at here today with social media, and all of the new software products, all the new technology that is out there that can be used in social media, and they haven’t even gotten around to scrutinizing what we’re doing and what law enforcement is doing in the use of social media,” he said.