Pauls' Revere
10-31-2018, 11:24 PM
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/online-rants-shooters-create-dilemma-police-58869004
Keeping tabs on social media posts has been used for years by law enforcement to try to identify potential threats. The task is enormous and it's an inexact science. The volume of posts is significant and the question arises: Is something a true threat or free speech?
They are mindful of the fact that the First Amendment protects Americans' right to express even speech that many in society find abhorrent — and have to make often-subjective decisions about what crosses the line.
Among more than 550 police departments across the country surveyed several years ago by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, about three-quarters said they regularly searched social media for potential threats.
Lt. Chris Cook, spokesman for the Arlington, Texas, Police Department, said the searches are often done manually, using keywords to try to identify troubling posts. [sic]
Keeping tabs on social media posts has been used for years by law enforcement to try to identify potential threats. The task is enormous and it's an inexact science. The volume of posts is significant and the question arises: Is something a true threat or free speech?
They are mindful of the fact that the First Amendment protects Americans' right to express even speech that many in society find abhorrent — and have to make often-subjective decisions about what crosses the line.
Among more than 550 police departments across the country surveyed several years ago by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, about three-quarters said they regularly searched social media for potential threats.
Lt. Chris Cook, spokesman for the Arlington, Texas, Police Department, said the searches are often done manually, using keywords to try to identify troubling posts. [sic]