Law Enforcement Using Social Media
Law enforcement is tapping into social media to investigate crime-fighting activities and gather evidence to support their case. Not only do police use social media to alert the public of any dangers, but also they use it because it is a useful tool that reveals a person’s location, alibis, relationships, and motives if they are suspected of a crime. Jay Baer, a social media content strategist and speaker, claims “81% of police departments are already using social media” (Baer). One successful example of the effective use of social media investigations was when a Los Angeles graffiti artist was arrested after posted his artwork on YouTube. Nevertheless, Jim Naureckas, the editor of FAIR's monthly journal
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A spokesperson for the Department of Justice says, “We will continue to use publicly available information individuals post online about their illegal activities or false statements to law enforcement officials in our investigations” (Ellis 2010). As a method for their social media investigations, law enforcements go undercover on social media to communicate with the suspects and gain their personal information. In order to do so, they must gain consent and cooperation from the media sites. MySpace has created a 24/7 hotline and e-mail account to assist police investigations. A MySpace representative says that they are “making sure law enforcement gets the information they need in a way that complies with all laws in order to be admissible in court and protecting the privacy of users from unauthorized exposure” (Ellis 2010). Facebook, on the other hand, has a stricter policy on providing them with information as they created an emergency policy for providing a user’s personal information. A Facebook spokesman says that “One hypothetical is a kidnapped child where every minute counts. It is in this type of instance where we have verified an emergency that we feel a responsibility to quickly share information that could save someone's life" (Ellis 2010). Yet, even in this case, Facebook would only share the minimum amount of information to ensure the user’s privacy is …show more content…
The admissions officers believe that even though the students’ application may say one thing, social media offers insight into what they are really like in their free time. The New York Times, an international news provider on a range of topics, surveyed college admission officers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and discovered that “Of the 403 undergraduate admissions officers who were polled by telephone over the summer, 35 percent said they had visited an applicant’s social media page. But only 16 percent of them said they had discovered information online that had hurt a student’s application…” (Singer 2014). Even though about a third of admissions officers admit to visiting an applicant’s social media page, only a small percentage of them how found behavior that deterred them. Colleges found that the internet searches on their applicants often enhanced the student’s application than it did hurt it. For example, Satyajit Dattagupta, the vice president for enrollment management at Morehouse College, said, “He looked favorably upon applicants who posted positive comments about the college and about themselves” (Singer 2014). College students who use social media are troubled by the thought that colleges are invading their privacy;
In an article written in the New England Journal of Higher Education, 2008 issue, by Dana Fleming, “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. Fleming’s purpose is to impress upon the readers the need for education institutions to state the guidelines and rules governing social networking, and “to treat them like any other university activity, subject to the school’s code of conduct and applicable state and federal laws” (443). She creates a dramatic tone in order to convey to her readers the idea that social networking can be sinister and their effects inescapable. Dana L. Fleming is a Boston area attorney who specializes in higher education law, with the mission of the New England Journal of Higher Education to engage and assist leaders in the assessment, development, and implementation of sound education practices and policies of regional significance. However, while Dana Fleming emphasizes the horror stories of social networking, she scatters her thoughts throughout this article springing from one idea to attempting to persuade her intended audience then juxtaposed stories about minors being hurt by poor social networking decisions contrasting the topic suggested in her title.
Fleming, Dana L. “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” New England Journal of Higher Education.22.4 (2008): 27-29. Print.
According to Rose and Fox (2014), 'widespread use of social networking sites [...] has changed the way individuals engage with news, political institutions and society' (p. 774); as a result, the public perception of social issues, understanding of crime, and assumptions about criminal justice are challenged by a new digital and online interactive environment. Therefore, given the present-day critique of the established news media and their institutionalised misrepresentation, new ways of looking at crime pose a threat to the hegemonic cultural production of information. This essay is going to discuss this potential problem for news outlets, drawing on examples from the Black Lives Matter justice movement and its reliance on citizen journalism. Firstly, it will be shown how the contemporary media environment changes, and what alternatives to the mainstream are available through online platforms. On the other hand, the text will consider complexities embedded in online communication networks, and ways in which citizen journalism affects representations of criminal justice. The final analysis will examine impacts of the unregulated digital culture on social discourses in general, and public activism within criminal justice in
In “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” Dana Fleming presents an essay concerning the safety of social networking sites and how Universities can deal and prevent problems. This article is targeted towards school administrators, faculty, and a social networking user audience who will either agree or disagree with her statement. I believe Fleming presents an excellent, substantial case for why she reasons the way she does. Fleming gives a sound, logical argument according to Toulmin’s Schema. This essay has an evident enthymeme, which has a claim and reasons why she believes in that way. Toulmin refers to this as “grounds."
In the year 2016 almost everyone applying to a school or business has a social media account. College admission offices and businesses have the ability to check applicant’s social media before they accept them into their school or business. But they should not be looking at social media because it does not give an accurate portrayal of the person applying.
Growing technology has changed the way people receive information. People have always had a way to receive information such as newspapers, local news stations, etc. Social media has changed the way information was transmitted. Instead of waiting to learn the filtered news days after it occurred, now social media has made raw information available in seconds. Changes in technology have caused extreme awareness of police brutality, such changes include instantaneous, raw footage.
Facebook is a setting where matters of supreme seriousness collide with the most trivial of affairs. These matters include serious topics such as the riots in Egypt, and exceedingly casual matters like what I ate for breakfast this morning. In many cases governments around the world must sort through the masses of information to determine what is serious and what is casual. In the case of Anthony Elonis, the U.S. court system has been asked to determine if Mr. Elonis's statements threatening to kill his wife are credible. In my opinion, Elonis, whose wife has recently left him, has shown through the context of his repeated verbal attacks on Facebook, is guilty of threatening his wife's life.
With the proliferation and ubiquity of social media technology, more criminal justice educators and professionals need to have an adequate understanding of how to use it for their benefit. Social media and government was first viewed as a way to push news updates or relevant issues in a community to citizens, but that is only one component of the many emerging benefits in social media. One year ago, John Dale of the Boston Police Department described the benefits of embracing Twitter as an early warning system:
The public trust and confidence in the police force ranks among the highest of the force goals. Social media, in turn, should not damage or harm the public trust and confidence if anything should improve it. A fair and balanced use of social media is important for the police. For instance “Missing White Girl Syndrome”—the disproportionate media coverage of these particular victims (Neely, Cheryl 2015a, 11) can start to chip away at the public trust. This is because what the police posts on social media as they won't be seen as unbiased if they only cherry pick which group their social media will cover. Additionally, it was found in a survey that before contact with police, the public generally has confidence and trust in the police yet post
"There is most definitely a fine line between privacy and internet safety monitoring, for example, monitoring someone who utilizes social media to converse with friends and monitoring someone who utilizes social media to converse hurtful comments with one another for all to see. The essential pro of monitoring one‚Äôs social media would be that the negative comments being sought out towards one another would not happen as much because that person would know that the government and their state would have access to see what was conversed through their account. The con of monitoring one‚Äôs social media would be the reoccurring question ‚ ÄúCan it be done?‚Äù, because to most people it is nonetheless an invasion of their privacy. If there were
To what extent is it okay for the government to monitor your social media? Social media is one of the biggest platforms in our world today. This platform can lead many people to success, but it can also lead people to their demise. When it comes to having an outlet on which to express yourself, many choose to abuse it. One of these net abusing users happens to be the leader of our country. "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" This tweet from President Trump is one of the many shock-worthy tweets that
As college students and adults prepare for the real world, people are constantly faced with how to prepare for interviews and the hiring process with jobs. One factor of that is the gray area that is the idea of social media and networking helping to assist with the hiring process. Technology has become a privacy and employment issue that future employees face. When it comes to employment companies a have no boundaries and employers need to realize that social media should be used only for non-bias practices and not employment decisions based on someone’s Facebook post. Topic: How Privacy and Employment Laws effect Social Media changing the Hiring Process.
Not many Colleges check up on their students through Facebook, but Oxford University is an expert at doing just that. Any picture or comment pertaining to illegal activities will lead to a student being charged with a fine. Since I am about to head off to college soon, I would disapprove of this invasion of privacy. Nonetheless, other colleges may soon pick up this way to spy on their students.
Should Individuals be prosecuted for statements made on social media? If individuals are prosecuted by the government for what they said online, then the government is violating the First Amendment to the Constitution. Although bullying can have very bad effects, it often is minimal and is not to extent that it would even be considered a federal offense. It should be the responsibility of school administration to stop it and to help the victim. In light of all this, I believe that individuals should not be prosecuted for statements made on social media.
The growing popularity of information technologies has significantly altered our world, and in particular, the way people interact. Social networking websites are becoming one of the primary forms of communication used by people of all ages and backgrounds. No doubt, we have seen numerous benefits from the impact of social media communication: We can easily meet and stay in touch with people, promote ourselves, and readily find information. However, these changes prompt us to consider how our moral and political values can be threatened. One common fear among users is that their privacy will be violated on the web. In her book, Privacy in Context, Helen Nissenbaum suggests a framework for understanding privacy concerns online. She focuses particularly on monitoring and tracking, and how four “pivotal transformations” caused by technology can endanger the privacy of our personal information. One website that may pose such a threat is Facebook.