To: To Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter:
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are helping police monitor people of color
Live up to your promises to support activist movements – do not undermine them with surveillance side doors. Cut off companies using your data for surveillance and make sure you have the policies and systems in place to properly protect users.
Why is this important?
Police are using social media surveillance companies to monitor activists protesting police brutality.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were caught red-handed providing user information to a social media surveillance company called Geofeedia - which is used by over 500 law enforcement agencies to monitor protesters and activists of color.
Companies like Geofeedia give police access to your social media data to monitor your posts, what protests you attend, even the hashtags you use. Some departments have even been taking people’s Instagram photos and running them through facial recognition software.
We must demand Facebook and Twitter cut off companies using our data for surveillance and make sure they have the policies and systems in place to properly protect users.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were caught red-handed providing user information to a social media surveillance company called Geofeedia - which is used by over 500 law enforcement agencies to monitor protesters and activists of color.
Companies like Geofeedia give police access to your social media data to monitor your posts, what protests you attend, even the hashtags you use. Some departments have even been taking people’s Instagram photos and running them through facial recognition software.
We must demand Facebook and Twitter cut off companies using our data for surveillance and make sure they have the policies and systems in place to properly protect users.