Quick Takes — Stassi On Social Media: LAPD Collecting Social Media Data On Innocent Civilians; Australia Targets Comment Sections; United Kingdom Arrests Soccer Fans For Wrongspeak

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: Big Brother is watching… and noting your pronouns.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     Are you a completely innocent person who has committed no crime? To bad, because the Los Angeles police are going to collect your social media information.

“The Los Angeles police department (LAPD) has directed its officers to collect the social media information of every civilian they interview, including individuals who are not arrested or accused of a crime, according to records shared with the Guardian.

“Copies of the ‘field interview cards’ that police complete when they question civilians reveal that LAPD officers are instructed to record a civilian’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media accounts, alongside basic biographical information. An internal memo further shows that the police chief, Michel Moore, told employees that it was critical to collect the data for use in ‘investigations, arrests, and prosecutions’, and warned that supervisors would review cards to ensure they were complete.

“The documents, which were obtained by the not-for-profit organization the Brennan Center for Justice, have raised concerns about civil liberties and the potential for mass surveillance of civilians without justification.”

     Would anyone with a website offer a comments section, or any interactive way for readers to interact, if the website owner was on the hook for anything anyone posted?

     Australia is set to find out!

“The highest court in Australia ruled this week that the responsibility for ‘bad content’ can be spread around at various levels. According to the court, newspapers and television networks that maintain Facebook pages are responsible for the comments that other users leave on their page. We’re not talking about the original network content they posted. The comment section.”

     And in the United Kingdom, of course, people go to jail for saying the wrong thing on social media.

“British police have arrested 11 people across the UK in connection with episodes of racist abuse targeting England football players on social media following the team’s Euro 2020 final loss to Italy.

“The UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) launched a hate crime investigation after racist comments were directed at some of England’s Black players following the game on July 11.

“The unit said it received more than 600 reports from individuals, charities, clubs and other organizations. According to the UKFPU, 207 of these were found to be criminal in their nature.”

     TTFN.

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