But in recent years, social media monitoring has become an important way to fill gang databases. Two-thirds find social media a valuable tool in anticipating crimes. Clearview AI, for example, says it has aggregated over ten billion images from social media platforms and other websites, and used them to develop facial recognition software. This could be especially beneficial in tackling cross-border criminal activities. In the wake of revelations that those tools were being used to surveil activists and protestors, however, and a change in the social media platforms’ policies to prohibit use of their data for surveillance by law enforcement, K-12 schools became a new target market for this industry. Social media change risk and crisis communication as they empower. Tweetpsych: Use this free tool to create a. In November 2015 — the earliest date for which New York Focus obtained records — the department entered into 10-month subscriptions with Geofeedia and Media Sonar , companies founded a decade ago with funding from the. Through public records requests, we obtained log files from the Corvallis (Oregon) Police Department's use of social media monitoring software called DigitalStakeout. Realizing that the perks of using social media channels are often much. The article details that the law enforcement agency has invested up to. Sprout Social is an intuitive platform that delivers smarter, faster business impact from social media. Broadly,. A quick search of the systemFollowing a meeting with the state’s Jewish leaders, local law enforcement and federal authorities, Hochul spoke to the media to discuss the state’s efforts to combat hate crimes. adults are accessing social media on a regular basis. . It’s up to each social. With the rise of cyber crime and cyber bullying, law enforcement has a need for monitoring social media where these activities are taking. Even when one law enforcement agency clearly has the lead and provides most of the resources—a July 4th celebration in a city park, for example—assistance from other law enforcement agencies may be needed (e. 1. Do crime analysts have access to social media monitoring tools? As many agencies know, social media is becoming an increasingly important factor when investigating and responding to crimes. Simplify internal operations. However, as social media use. THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SUPERVISION TOOL THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SUPERVISION TOOL I 3. For these reasons, a Fourth Amendment challenge to social media monitoring by law enforcement could be difficult under the traditional framework. A 2016 survey by the. Meltwater. In early 2011, EPIC submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security on the agency's proposal to undertake monitoring of social network and news organizations. The tool also offers real-time alerts, allowing you to respond quickly to any issues. E. 1. If law enforcement agencies fully engage the public by using social media, the. The panel discussed five core business cases for employing social media and social network analysis in law enforcement: monitoring for activity indicating short-term safety threats in postings, and communicating responses as needed; identifying those at high risk for involvement in violence; actively monitoring the high-risk to see. Politicians and law enforcement in the U. The records, obtained through a freedom of information lawsuit, illuminate Voyager’s own services and offer a broader window into the typically. Social media monitoring tools were once big business for developers marketing to local police departments. November 17, 2021. Emerging social networking and other communication tools and their accompanying roles in the shift in youth behavior complicate the situation. Social media has turned a spotlight on cases of racial discrimination. Brandwatch offers a range of products that offer real-time insights about your industry, your brand, and your marketing, as well as reporting capabilities and system connections that scale with your initiatives. Social media platforms. Social media intelligence (SOCMINT) is a sub-branch of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), it refers to the information collected from social media websites. NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. com. These features raise new questions about how social media monitoring and law enforcement investigative practices on the ground intersect and shape each other. But some of the most troubling programs continuously monitor the social media posts of non-citizens to decide who gets to live, study, or stay in the United States. Law enforcement is already using social media to watch, assess and sometimes arrest citizens. A MAGA rally map available online before the storming of the U. The records, obtained through a freedom of information lawsuit, illuminate Voyager’s own services and offer a broader. The utter lack of transparency, accountability, and oversight is particularly troubling because social media surveillance software used by California law enforcement — tools like MediaSonar, X1. Social media monitoring by law enforcement agencies has drawn scrutiny from a coalition of free speech and civil rights groups, raising important questions about privacy as well as oversight ofAny attempt by law enforcement agencies or security services to covertly add the targeted user as a validated contact,. Your agency may use social media for reasons beyond those included in the survey. life for people of all ages. By Timothy J. 9. Perpetrators use social media networks, video conferences, dating pages, online chat rooms,. Few significant issues have been noted; however, the potential exists for police to be impacted by attacks on their credibility or through “cop baiting. According to a LexisNexis survey involving over 1,200 law enforcement professionals, 83% use social media—like Facebook and YouTube—to further their investigations. With federal, state, and local law enforcement having access to a range of tools that enable them to carry out social media monitoring, there should be far more written regulation than there is. Police departments also like how quickly they can access detailed location information from Fog. 10. As the list of black citizens killed by nonblack officers grows, tensions between black communities and police are running high. Social media gives law enforcement the ability to attract, engage, and inform potential applicants on a new level. By monitoring social media platforms, law enforcement can gather valuable intelligence about potential crimes and criminals. Maryland Public Safety Education Training Center. S. Inside, you'll gain complete access to our talented staff of world-class industry experts who will transfer the knowledge and expertise that you need to succeed as a law enforcement, loss. Law enforcement officers often struggle to determine their proper role in addressing bullying behavior. Social media analysis: Monitoring for activity indicating short-term safety threats in postings, and communicating responses as needed. From social media to data analysis, future police officers will have access to a number of new tools to solve and prevent crimes. 4. As the name suggests, social media monitoring tools are designed for users who want to monitor and control their friends and followers. For law enforcement, data is the key to enhanced situational awareness, but having too much data can overwhelm analysts, command staff, and enforcement members. For these reasons, a Fourth Amendment challenge to social media monitoring by law enforcement could be difficult under the traditional framework. Law. As social media monitoring is increasingly used for law enforcement purposes, racial biases in surveillance may contribute to existing racial disparities in law enforcement practices. use sonlyocial media monitoring tools that gather information not within the public domainwith command approval . making cybercrime investigators an indispensable part of modern law enforcement. In light of repeated reports of police turning to online monitoring to target people of color and First Amendment–protected activities, the accusations against Voyager are a reminder that when law enforcement employs tools to facilitate unbridled social media surveillance, civil rights and civil liberties are at risk. Officers have most frequently used it to track criminals, but more recently, GPS has helped in officer safety monitoring. The Brennan Center released documents Wednesday from the Los Angeles Police Department shedding light on the services being marketed by social media monitoring firm Voyager Labs to law enforcement. In Bahrain, Turkey, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, for. Refrain from using social media monitoring, and should avoid it entirely where they do not have a clear, publicly accessible policy regulating this activity; When exceptionally used: Local authorities should use social media monitoring only if and when in compliance with their legal obligations, including data protection and human rights. Besides the major social media platforms, Brand24 also monitors blogs, forums, and other sites for mentions of your brand. None of the law enforcement agencies had policies about how the product should be used. 75 million on social media monitoring tools between 2013 and 2016 to surveil the public and investigate possible crimes, although this sum is “massively understated,” according to researchers. Future lines of development are noted that may merit ongoing research. a valid law enforcement purposeEmployees may . Here are five tools designed to make your online investigations more successful and efficient: WebPreserver: Collect and preserve social media evidence in defensible format. Instagram and Snapchat are used by 67% and 62% of those aged 18-29. Over 70% of U. families. Law Enforcement Media Analysis helps identify, monitor, access. Local police agencies have been enticed by Fog’s affordable price: It can start as low as $7,500 a year. have made significant investments in social media monitoring tools. Many days. 2. in Crowdsourced data on the platform, social media content and blogs. The information Duggan obtained illuminates the extent of law enforcement’s efforts to track individuals in real time: the pages include photos of his face, body, and press badge, surrounded by. Unlike other social media monitoring software and brand monitoring tools that rely on a single third-party data provider, we crawl over 13 billion web pages daily, in addition to the APIs. In total, the Brennan Center has received twelve sets of documents totaling over 10,000 pages. Empowered by social media, cop baiting presents a crisis for law enforcement. Most U. ALDMAN * I. Social media provides. OSINT Training & Resources. In this paper, we look at social media monitoring as a tool for surveillance, the current state of social media surveillance in India and. S. A memo from October 2018 outlines procedures to create an official LAPD social media account and policies that govern officer. 1. Wired reports of U. While there are dozens of American tech companies selling this type of software to law enforcement agencies, one particular startup, Voyager Labs, is collecting social media information—including Facebook posts, emojis, friends–and analyzing them to make connections, even cross-referencing this information with private data, to create a. 00. Best Social Media Monitoring Tools For Law Enforcement. The majority of CBP personnel using social media for situational awareness will not collect, store, or disseminate PII. EVINSON-W. " David P. For law enforcement officers and federal agencies, social media monitoring is used both in the course of criminal investigations and as a general dragnet, raising concerns about abuse and overreach. C. Oct. Top. Social Media Monitoring Can Have a Chilling Effect on First Amendment-Protected Activities Online surveillance by law enforcement stifles First Amendment-protected activities. "Yet after the Capitol insurrection, the FBI invested an additional $27 million into social media monitoring software, effectively doubling down. 15. S. 20 specially trained police officers will keep a vigil on widely discussed and trending topics. In its marketing materials, Geofeedia claims that it helped police monitor protests in Ferguson in 2015. The FBI has invested millions of dollars into social media tracking software, according to a report from the Washington Post. Watch video. Users. T. 4% percent of law enforcement agencies surveyed used social media in some capacity, including over half for listening or monitoring and three-quarters for intelligence. Capitol — and the ensuing actions taken by social media platforms — suggest that we may be. 1. S. A progression in time has changed the perspective of reasonable—at least in terms of basic video surveillance. DHS is increasingly seeking and using automated tools to gather and analyze social media data. ” But in 2016, public records requests revealed that police were using these tools to surveil lawful protestors, leading major social media platforms to block data access by. In other situations, it appears that individuals engaged in collective criminal activity have the ability, at least to some degree, to use social media as an organizational tool. At this age, parents monitoring social media and internet usage may be advisable. Abstract. Law enforcement is also increasingly using physical robots to perform a. Tweets, Facebook posts or Instagram shares can help law enforcement discover criminal activity. S. After explaining the use of social media monitoring, 4. Through Social Mention’s advanced search toolbar, you can produce regulatory intelligence by being alerted of specific keywords from across the internet. District Court for the District of Oregon between May 25 and Sept. Visallo is a web-based software crime tool that uses machine learning algorithms to help investigative work. Many experts believe the social media sphere holds enormous potential for law enforcement crime prevention units and groups such as Neighborhood Watch. Uncover associations between addresses, phone numbers and user personas. So says a new report from Freedom on the Net, which warns that nine in every 10. Police departments should continue to monitor social media to inform law enforcement. 11 As a result, most communities are entirely in the dark as to how their local police track their speech and associations online. Police are Monitoring Social Media without the Public’s Input or Approval Law enforcement agencies across the country have collectively spent millions on social media monitoring without public debate or consent. The goal is to detect the sort of posts that seemed to predict the Jan. If exigentEven if a police department or law enforcement agency only uses it infrequently, there are benefits of social media that can enhance public safety. Worldwide. 73% of respondents believe that social media can help solve crimes more quickly when used as an investigative tool. However, the Stored Communications Act regulates a subset of service providers, and the data collected by connected devices may not always be covered by the law. Hosted by: the DEA Washington Division and the National Domestic Communication Assistance Center (NDCAC) Course Description: This innovative course provides Criminal Investigators,. Patterns of life analysis is one of law enforcement’s most powerful techniques. After the attack, the. Like many companies in this industry, Voyager Labs’ software allows law enforcement to collect and analyze large troves of social media data to investigate crimes or monitor potential threats. Social media is one of many tools law enforcement can use to connect with the. A new study has found law enforcement agencies spent $4. Cyberbullying and Sexting: Law Enforcement Perceptions. Next. Social Media as a Tool for Law Enforcement. S. utilize private sector social media monitoring tools, with over $5. private security and the local police and ire departments. CP allows trafficking victims to lawfully remain in the U. In April of 2018, the DHS began seeking a contractor to develop “Media Monitoring Services” (MMS), a suite of digital tools that. The amendment aims to increase the information content and comparability of social media providers’ transparency reports and improve. Twitter International Unlimited Company c/o Trust & Safety - Legal Policy One Cumberland Place Fenian StreetA Florida law passed last year requires the state’s Department of Education and law enforcement to create a central database capturing, among other things, information from social media. Collect, organize, classify, and secure these assets faster while reducing costs and the strain on labor. Law enforcement personnel are using social media tools in increasingly unique and effective ways, from locating criminals and evidence to communicating. S. Let's Connect. In one case, police in the UK used Facebook to track down a group of people who had assaulted a man in a Glasgow park. Therefore, law enforcement agencies must establish criteria for social media usage that balances the constitutional rights of officers while protecting the integrity of departments and investigations. Police agencies have used social media to help solve crimes, find missing persons, and gather evidence. Law enforcement uses the tools at their disposal to help identify networks of criminal activity. ” 9. 6. Legal: Links to digital evidence case law summaries and other academic legal resources. Contact information. A Chicago company has marketed a tool using text, photos and videos gleaned from major social media companies to aid law enforcement surveillance of protesters, civil liberties. S. Pricing: 14-day free trial; paid plans start at $79 per month. Utilizing open-records law requests, the Brennan Center for Justice calculated that, as of November 2016, 157 law enforcement agencies throughout the U. Smarter physical bots. Raman Jit Singh Chima, Director of Public Policy at global digital rights non-profit Access Now, agreed. In the report the company showcased how its social media monitoring tool could monitor the riots that followed Freddie Gray’s funeral (Freddy Gray was a 25-year-old African American who was shot by the police. The Value for Law Enforcement. Learn how our clients collect and analyze complex data faster and more efficiently––from the start of an investigation to a compelling, court-ready presentation, we are your digital investigation intelligence partner. , roadThis is particularly true when law enforcement uses social media monitoring to monitor dissidents and other political activists, as well as the press. ACHEL . And our records from Fresno and several other communities reveal that some have been marketed in. Discover conversations online and what is trending in the local population. Police are Monitoring Social Media without the Public’s Input or Approval Law enforcement agencies across the country have collectively spent millions on social media monitoring without public debate or consent. 8 (367) Visit Website. While anecdotal reports and some surveys suggest that the use of social media by local law enforcement is widespread,. OpenText™ Law Enforcement Media Analysis identifies and extracts facts from video and image evidence during investigations. General . These new mining tools can help give law enforcement additional tools to ensure public safety. investigations, and currently more than half (51%) listen or monitor social media activity for potential criminal activity. 8 For instance, the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing—a Department of Justice (DOJ) task force established to identify best practices and offer. Social media has been a part of our everyday lives for several years now, and has many uses for individuals, businesses, and even government agencies. Private information -such as contents shared with. All communications sent or received by government. “If the government departments are collecting and analysing social media data of citizens. LAW ENFORCEMENT’S MONITORING OF SOCIAL MEDIA . Using social media monitoring as part of your comprehensive cybersecurity strategy has several key benefits unique to the platforms involved. , E. January 6 should have taught the leaders of social media organizations that actions have consequences. It’s why PenLink is trusted by law enforcement around the globe. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission continue to lead robust enforcement, data analysis, and technical assistance efforts to address diversity in law enforcement. It uses machine learning to scan chatter on social media, messaging boards, 311 calls and local news broadcasts and provides law enforcement with a tailored report about what is being said in the. It's often about learning new, and qualitatively different information from an individual’s or communities’ postings. Social Media Monitoring Can Have a Chilling Effect on First Amendment-Protected Activities. People are the lifeblood of an organization. , Police Department (BRPD) has taken the application of social media for law enforcement a step further. Twitonomy is a free tool that lets you analyse and export mentions, followers and other stats from Twitter on any user or hashtag. DHS, No. social media is a tool for communication that has become an integral part of daily . families. Unsurprisingly, law enforcement agencies are increasingly using these tools; according to a 2015 survey by the International Association of Police Chiefs, 96. According to the National Gang Investigators Association, the most popular platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Google, Flickr, WhatsApp and kik. In one case, police in the UK used Facebook to track down a group of people who had assaulted a man in a Glasgow park. 3. Social media has become a powerful tool for law enforcement to investigate crimes. Staffers are pressed to search specific neighborhoods, streets, and even housing complexes for crime. Last Updated: December 21, 2021 Published: November 17, 2021 See full list on theintercept. 3. Questionable videos of police officers are popular on sites, such as. This article considers the affordances of Web 2. You can, of course, consider using free social media analytics tools like Twitter or Facebook Analytics and retrieve engagement-related metrics. The FBI’s primary tool for monitoring social media threats is the same contractor that labeled peaceful Black Lives Matter protest leaders DeRay McKesson and Johnetta. L. A notable example is the. HVE combines highly visible and proactive law enforcement targeting a specific traffic safety issue. The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI,. But proper and effective use of these tools requires the creation of cyber defense plans that allow departments to leverage innovative technologies to analyze data and detect, deter and apprehend cybercriminals. The Canadian company is known for selling social-media-monitoring tools to law enforcement agencies, who mostly used them to track activists of color and keywords such as "BlackLivesMatter" in the. It will become increasingly important that police officers have the proper training and understanding of tools like social media that can help keep their. This software purportedly enables users to identify a person based. Utilizing open-records law requests, the Brennan Center for Justice calculated that, as of November 2016, 157 law enforcement agencies throughout the U. Find locations where images were taken. temporarily and work during the investigation into the human trafficking-related crimes committed against them and during any civil action under 18 U. At the same time, few departments have publicly available policies governing their use of social media for intelligence, data collection, and criminal investigations. This involves the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data from various platforms. By Team Imarkguru March 21, 2023. Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP. Lawmakers must demand greater transparency about programs and the. Civil rights advocates have long flagged the police's use of tools to monitor social media posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram , raising concerns about privacy and the targeting of. The past few years have seen the implementation of automated facial recognition systems across a range of social realms. , uses machine learning to formulate custom reports from scans of public conversations across social media platforms. Law enforcement uses the tools at their disposal to help identify networks of criminal activity. Use data aggregators to pull together info from courthouses across the country, add extensions to better utilize video and images and safely search social media. In the effort to fill this void effectively, BrightPlanet offers the Social Media Monitor for Law Enforcement. , Public posts on Facebook or LinkedIn) or private. Companies are increasingly using social-media monitoring tools to monitor,. SOCMINT can be defined as the techniques, technologies, and tools that allow for the collection and analysis of information from social media platforms. Use this location-based tool to discover and dig into social content posted by local influencers. S. Furthermore, a recent survey found 86% of law enforcement officers to use social media at least twice a month in an investigation, and 67% acknowledge its importance as a crime fighting tool [7]. S. Personal credibility is essential for law enforcement. March 3, 2017. more powerful monitoring tools supplement the CPD’s extensive camera and other information-collecting systems. Real-Time Intelligence. Broadly, law enforcement relies on social media as a tool for information sharing as well as for gathering information to assist in investigations. Does It Go Too Far? Law enforcement officials say the tool can help them combat. Social Media Monitoring: Government Surveillance of Public Space. P2P: Links to key tools for doing peer-to-peer network investigations. If Suspect A is tweeting about drugs every night from 1-2 a. Law enforcement officials say the tools can be useful because sometimes people who commit crimes brag about them on social media. Social media monitoring algorithms are unreliable — and could be discriminatory. As social media continues to evolve, more and more law enforcement entities will need to take notice and use it to their advantage. 11 As a result, most communities are entirely in the dark as to how their local police track their speech and associations online. User Satisfaction. adults are estimated to have used social media in 2021. Social media monitoring programs also put schools in the difficult position of having to monitor and respond to what students are saying off campus. EPIC has been analyzing law enforcement monitoring of social networks and on-line media for several years. Through social media, people easily. Many of the tools the Act provides to law enforcement to fight terrorism have been used for decades to fight organized crime and drug dealers, and have been reviewed and approved by the courts. c/o Trust & Safety - Legal Policy 1355 Market Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103. S. These features raise new questions about how social media monitoring and law enforcement investigative practices on the ground intersect and shape each other. Absent certain circumstances requiring a warrant, the average. Social media accounts for 22 percent of time spent on the Internet, 1. This article will delve into the best brand monitoring tools of 2023 available to law enforcement agencies. But in recent years, social media monitoring has become an important way to fill gang databases. Police departments across the country are using new surveillance tools such as facial recognition, social media monitoring, license plate readers, cell phone trackers, and predictive policing. In the United States for example, under the Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act, all phone calls. A 2013 report by the U. “Five-thousand licenses for social media monitoring in real time means that thousands of FBI agents will be looking for key words and topics on an ongoing basis with social media surveillance. Law enforcement is rapidly developing sophisticated tools to monitor and analyze social media activities. Staff were also specifically monitoring social media for posts about “Officers involved in Floyd’s death” — all of which would be forwarded to Dataminr’s governmental customers through a. The Local+ List resembles another tool popular with law enforcement around the same time — the CIA-funded service Geofeedia. Agencies at all levels are investing in the latest and greatest technologies in order to better serve and protect their officers and communities. P. We’re Demanding the Government Come Clean on Surveillance of Social Media, 98 N. Social Media as a Communications Tool. This enables law enforcement to create a detailed profile of your. The Challenges of Social Media Monitoring. Had the platform passed those warnings on to law enforcement, it would have been. SANS provides comprehensive training, certification, and resources for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques, empowering analysts with the skills and tools necessary to collect and analyze publicly available information to support investigations, critical decision-making, and improve overall security posture. department members with respect to their use of social media and the direct effect such use has upon the reputation, perception, and interests of the department. Law enforcement personnel are using social media tools in increasingly unique and effective ways, from locating criminals and evidence to communicating. A 2016 survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police estimated that 70 percent of police departments use social media to gather intelligence and monitor public sentiment. There are some social media monitoring companies that already provide online data for law enforcement to use for surveillance. I will examine the importance of “privacy in public. The nature of social media and law enforcement makes their relationship particularly volatile. 4%) and YouTube (38. These features raise new questions about how social media monitoring and law enforcement investigative practices on the ground intersect and shape each other. While tools for social media analysis run. At the same time, few departments have publicly available. II. We track over 300,000 online news sources, have partnerships for print and broadcast monitoring, and listen to social conversations, in real-time, across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, comments, review sites, forums, message boards, and. Social media monitoring by law enforcement is becoming commonplace, but little is known about what software packages for it do. Social media sites also allow agencies to makeLast year, Social Sentinel, a company that provides law enforcement with “social media threat intelligence alert solutions,” passed around guides to help police inform their decision about. The Brennan Center and other organizations have raised concerns about the use of social media by police for criminal investigations and other forms of information collection. We are hopeful that log files obtainable through public records request will shed light on the operation of these surveillance tools. Capitol on Jan. 5 reveal some of the tools and practices federal law enforcement agencies are using. the Tool Bought by the FBI to Monitor Social Media, Motherboard (Feb. Over the past 20 years there has been an increasingly effective use of social media by street gangs. § 1595 filed by the victims against their traffickers. 3. But there are signs that Twitter, Facebook and others are shutting off access to that data. The contract offers access to social media monitoring service Babel X as well as “Lexis Nexis facial recognition” services. Currently, the amount of data available is growing exponentially,. In the effort to fill this void effectively, BrightPlanet offers the Social Media Monitor for Law Enforcement. The Companies Monitoring Social Media The market is crowded with software companies providing social media monitoring tools to law enforcement. We take for granted the positive aspects of using social media in business. Moreover, social media monitoring is a powerful tool that can be easily abused, putting people’s privacy and free speech rights at risk — especially in communities. Local law enforcement officials downplayed the privacy concerns, stressing that Geofeedia only enables them to monitor public social media posts, "open-source data," not private messages. In 2012, Brooklyn police officer Michael Rodrigues arrested a. The PIA claims that CBP is only monitoring public social media posts, and thus individuals retain the right and ability to refrain from making information public or to remove previously posted information from their respective social media. The Brennan Center and other organizations have raised concerns about the use of social media by police for criminal investigations and other forms of information collection. Whether it’s. Observe LinkedIn followers, interactions, and impressions. espresso. So when we say Awario is the most immediate way to learn about each new relevant mention. social media screening is emerging as a valuable tool for law enforcement to screen clear, problematic behavior. 4% percent of law enforcement agencies surveyed used social media in some capacity, including over half for listening or monitoring and three-quarters for intelligence gathering purposes. g. Social media analysis: Actively monitoring the high- Update: In 2016, a flurry of records obtained by the ACLU revealed that Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram had secretly provided user data access to developers of social media monitoring software, which was being used by law enforcement agencies as a tool to monitor protestors and activists – particularly Black Lives Matter and other activists of color. This infographic shows key survey results and provides insights on how law enforcement is using social media for investigations, crime prevention and community outreach efforts. You wouldn’t think so, but they’re using tools like social media networks to identify, detect, and solve crimes. After all, social media sites are full of data that can make police interventions more effective, from posts. S. Department of Justice recommended police departments create strategies to monitor social media, track communications about protests, create an online alias to covertly. Dataminr’s automated systems analyze public data feeds and deliver automated alerts to law enforcement clients, including the FBI, about shootings and natural disasters. S.