This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of social media regulation in law enforcement. It will focus on U.S. law, but the principles and practices of social media regulation around the world are similar. This guide is intended to provide an update on the state of social media regulation in law enforcement, as well as provide tips for effective use of social media in law enforcement.
What is Social Media Regulation?
Social media regulation is the practice of regulating the use of social media in order to protect the public from fraudulent or harmful content. The regulation can come in many forms, including laws and regulations that are passed by legislatures, as well as rules and policies that are issued by social media companies.
What are Some of the Risks of Social Media Regulation
Some risks associated with social media regulation include:
-Racial or ethnic profiling: This could lead to discrimination against certain groups because of their race or ethnicity.
-Violence and threats: Social media can be used to make targeting attacks on specific people and organizations possible.
-Data breaches: A data breach could contain personal information about individuals or organizations that could be used to harm them.
How Do Law Enforcement Organizations Regulate The Use Of Social Media?
The International Association of Chiefs of Police suggests that law enforcement agencies determine the scope of social media policies before writing them.
Your agency should determine the purpose of the policy, and decide what it needs to cover. Like other policies, your social media policy should clearly define terms up front so as to avoid confusion or disputes.
IACP’s model social media policy defines things such as “blog,” “post,” “page,” and “profile.”
From there, the policy should clearly establish acceptable and unacceptable uses of official and personal social media.
Official use of social media
Social media is becoming a more integral part of law enforcement operations. So agencies need thorough guidelines for how to use it to communicate.
Many departments appoint a designated social media manager. Some allow several different officers to post from official department accounts.
In any case, effective law enforcement social media policy will clearly outline who is authorized to represent the department on official agency profiles.
Remember: official department social media is public record. It’s important for policies to include expectations for employee conduct while representing the department on social media.
IACP’s model social media policy includes a broad provision that personnel representing the department should “Conduct themselves at all times as representatives of the department and, accordingly, shall adhere to all department standards of conduct and observe conventionally accepted protocols and proper decorum.”
Engaging with the community
Since social media posts can be shared so widely, your agency needs to be careful about what information you share on official accounts.
Your department can use social media to share safety tips, information about accidents, and relevant agency updates and events.
Your department’s social media policy should clearly outline acceptable and unacceptable content. Social media is a great place to engage with the community.
But for official uses, it’s best to stick to facts and avoid weighing in on controversial issues. For example, policies may give social media managers some leeway on responding to questions from the community.
However, policies should prohibit posts that comment on pending prosecutions, share confidential information, or make statements about the guilt or innocence of any suspect.
Investigating and preventing crimes
Official department social media accounts can be helpful for soliciting tips about crimes or missing people. But individual officers can also use social media for investigations.
In fact, a 2014 study by LexisNexis found that 73 percent of officers believe that using social media can help solve crimes faster. According to the study, 8 out of 10 law enforcement professionals actively used social media in investigations.
However, the study also found that 52 percent of agencies didn’t have a formal process for doing so.
Without proper policies, evidence gathered via social media may not hold up in court. Social media policies can help officers navigate the legal and ethical issues of using social media to gather information.
All online investigations should comply with laws and require officers to receive adequate training.
Policies about investigations should cover things such as when and how officers can use false identities online and what equipment they can use for investigations.
It should outline procedures for documenting online investigations and establish provisions for accountability.
Monitoring comments and taking down posts
Facebook and Twitter aren’t always the most friendly places for public conversations. Even if your department never posts anything controversial, you will probably run into controversial or combative comments from users.
Your social media policy should include procedures on how to monitor comments. In her post on social media for law enforcement, consultant Lauri Stevens suggests that agencies post takedown policies on a separate tab on their Facebook page.
She encourages agencies to “protect your Facebook Page as a ‘limited public forum,’ have a takedown policy, and enforce it conservatively and consistently.”
Personal use of social media
In general, law enforcement agencies should be cautious about being too restrictive about officers’ personal social media use. Your agency’s social media policy has to respect officer’s First Amendment rights.
A court recently ruled that one agency’s policy—which restricted “negative comments” about the department—was overly broad and violated officers’ free speech.
For the most part, your social media policy should specify that your officers have freedom of expression, but it should outline a few exceptions.
Department affiliation
It’s important that policies specify which individual accounts officially represent the department and which accounts don’t.
For example: If your police chief has an individual Twitter account, that account most likely represents the department.
Therefore, that account should align with the agency’s official social media use. However, individual officers’ personal accounts can’t be held to the same standards.
ConnectedCOPS advises agencies to include the use of disclaimers in social media policies.
“Because you may be giving your personnel the authority to comment on issues relating to the department, it’s imperative to emphasize the importance that officers, especially, state that what they write is their own opinion and not that of the department.”
Prohibited speech
Law enforcement social media policy should establish what officers are prohibited from posting on their personal accounts.
This may include sharing sensitive department information; posting images of department personnel, logos, or cruisers; or posting evidence of themselves acting badly on or off duty.
Agency policies should clearly state that officers can be disciplined for violating the department’s code of conduct on social media.
Privacy and perception
Most social media profiles aren’t private by default. In social media policy and training, law enforcement agencies should remind officers that their posts can be seen by community members, department leaders, and even suspects.
Irresponsible posts could undermine their testimony in criminal proceedings or reflect negatively on the department. Sharing sensitive information or posting their location could even put them or other officers in danger.
Social media policies should remind officers that the department may review their social media accounts at any time.
As a general rule, officers shouldn’t post anything they wouldn’t be comfortable with their supervisors reading.
Your social media policy is just one of the 12 law enforcement policies every agency needs to protect its community, officers, and reputation in an era of increased scrutiny and litigation.
How to Obtain Social Media Regulation Information
If you’re an law enforcement officer or regulator, it’s important to be aware of the rules and regulations governing social media. This includes understanding how to get a Social Media Regulation Alert, finding social media regulation documents, and using social mediaregulation tools.
Find Social Media Regulation Documents
There are many different types of social media regulation documents, including laws, regulations, guidelines, policies, and other information that can help inform your decision-making when regulating social media. To find the right document for you, start by looking for online resources like the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure or the National Security Agency leaker case law. Additionally, contact your state or local government body to get information on specific social media regulation topics.
Learn About Social Media Regulation Tools
Even if you don’t have all the answers to questions about social media regulation, there are plenty of tools available to help you make informed decisions. Some helpful tools include the Social Media Regulatory Information Database (SMRID), which contains information on over 1,000 regulations related to social media; Twitter Guidelines (@TwitterGuidelines), which provide clear instructions on how to use Twitter; and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (@FRCP), which provide guidance on criminal procedure issues relevant to social media.
How to Use Social Media Regulation Information
When using social media regulation information, remember to use the Right Language. By using language that is respectful and polite, you will help ensure that your law enforcement activities are conducted in a responsible manner. Additionally, avoid giving away personal information or embarrassing photos of individuals involved in law enforcement activity. Use instead language that is informative and helpful, helping to improve your overall strategy for regulating social media.
Use Social Media Regulation Information to Improve Your Law Enforcement Strategy
In order to improve the accuracy and usefulness of social media regulation information, it is important to keep a records trail of all interactions between you and individuals involved in law enforcement activities. This can be done by creating a record diary or by capturing all communication between you and individuals during the course of an investigation. Additionally, keep track of any changes or updates to regulations that may have been made since you last used them as a guide for your next regulatory effort.
How Do Police Use Social Media To Solve Crimes?
Below are six different ways law enforcement is utilizing social media and real-time search to
enhance tactics, disseminate public information, and ultimately prevent criminal activity.
Anonymous E-Tipsters
The program allows tipsters to send information anonymously through a variety of means
including “anonymous web chat, text tips and secure social media publishing.” Filtered alerts can
then be pushed out through a police department’s central location to other web mediums.
Bundled with other offerings, tip411 can then be published with Google Maps to create a
clickable, interactive crime “heat map” of sorts where others can click on links directly to add
more information and tips based on location. This program is meant to encourage increased
interaction between the police and the community through real-time web tools.
Tips from the community have been a time-honored way that citizens have worked with the
public to fight crime.
Thwarting Thugs in the Social Space
Myspace, Facebook and Twitter are popular with gang members, and police use this to their
advantage. Law enforcement has been able to infiltrate street gangs by posing as fellow gang
members online, making connections, and intercepting criminal communications as they happen.
Information like photos, videos, and friend links help law enforcement understand the dynamics
of gangs when investigating their activities.
“Investigators build phony profiles to ‘friend’ gang members either within YouTube, Facebook
or Bebo, and then may migrate that friendship to another platform and gain trust and get their
‘friends’ to share useful information,” said SMILE conference organizer Lauri Stevens.
Police Blotter Blogs
Publishing a register of crimes and arrests in an area has been an online activity for a while now,
especially through local newspaper websites. But social media is allowing many police officers
on the scene to report the publicly available details of a crime for themselves. Reporters are
getting their facts directly from a stream of real time-data and blog posts coming from the
department.
A police blotter is the record of events at a police station. Traditionally, a desk sergeant kept a
register of these events. Nowadays, Twitter feeds, blogs, YouTube, and Facebook Fan Pages are
being used by captains and chiefs to put out the digital equivalent of the police blotter in real-time.
Tracking and Informing with Twitter
As we all know, Twitter has plenty of uses for individuals and companies. Law enforcement also
uses the service to communicate with the public.
Social Media Stakeout
Social media advocates stress listening as a part of any brand’s online marketing strategy.
Listening to the bad guys doing bad things has always been a part of police work. It’s important
for police to search the real-time web to target particular keywords and phrases being passed
around on social media. Use of social media monitoring has a strategic, tactical and operational
application for law enforcement.
The Digital “Wanted Poster”
In the vein of an Old West “Wanted” poster, displayed in the most trafficked area of town,
modern-day law enforcement agencies are posting descriptions of criminals on today’s most
trafficked spots — namely the social web.
With millions of users, extraordinary reach, and the lightning-fast exchange of text, photos, and
video, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are ideal for getting the word out about
wanted persons with up-to-the-minute updates.
Conclusion
Social media regulations law enforcement agencies mustfollow. This means that you must be aware of the latest social media regulations in order to avoid any potential problems. In addition, you should be prepared to answer any questions that may be asked about your company or products. By following these guidelines, you can maintain a positive regulatory environment for your business and continue to grow into a successful law enforcement agency.