Introduction
The law enforcement, as well as crime prevention, have essentially been revolutionized in this age of social media. In point of fact, the social network services have significantly increased the communication between the citizens and the law enforcement agencies. Besides, these services are more and more being utilized in criminal and legal investigations by the law enforcement agencies. The government agencies mine the social media websites for evidence (Murphy & Fontecilla 5). It is vital to note that the police departments in different parts of the world have significantly reduced crimes thanks to the use of social media. In essence, these agencies utilize the social media as a tool for fighting different types of crimes. For instance, they scrutinize the social media activities of a suspect for the information, which can be utilized in the criminal and legal investigations. At times, the police departments are forced to contact the providers of social media to access the private information such as IP addresses, emails, and private messages. For this reason, the present paper elucidates whether the police practice of utilizing the social media violate the rights of a person.
Although the police practice of use of social media has some numerous advantages, it violates the rights of a person to some extent. The government does not require a court order, search warrant, or subpoena to get the evidence from the social media (Murphy & Fontecilla 6). Consequently, it might use the social media sites to infringe on the fundamental rights of the citizens. First of all, the secret use of social media monitoring software by the police is essentially a direct threat to an individual’s right to privacy. At some time, the police use the social media software to monitor, gather, and analyze the individuals’ social media data secretly from the sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Besides, they utilize the social media monitoring software to track the innocent individuals as they communicate. As a matter of fact, this violates the individual’s right to privacy.
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution protects a person’s right to privacy. An action by the private party as well as any government body, which threatens the individuals’ privacy is restrained. The police, as well as other agents of the government, are prohibited from searching an individual or his/her properties devoid of probable cause. In other words, the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution protects individual’s properties and homes against the unreasonable searches as well as seizures. However, the police can misuse and abuse the social media monitoring software and infringe on the individual’s right to privacy. For instance, they can target the individuals who threaten the existing leadership or those individuals that they dislike.
Additionally, the deceptive tactics such as creating fake social media profiles to get access to the profiles of the individuals by the police constitute the violation of an individual’s right to privacy. In fact, the police who do this violate the terms of service of the social media sites. As a result, this undermines the integrity of these sites. In fact, the police are creating fake profiles on the social media sites to get the intelligence information from the accused individuals under the investigation. As a matter of fact, this facilitates crime reduction. Nonetheless, some police might create the fake profiles to target innocent individuals. Ideally, this constitutes the violation of the right of the individual to privacy.
Furthermore, the police practice of utilizing the social media might encroach upon the individual’s right to the freedom of expression. Every individual has the right to the freedom of expression as stated in Article 10 of the European Convention (Voorhoof 1). In any democracy in the world, the right to the freedom of expression is imperative. Ideally, the right to the freedom of expression entails the freedom to impart and receive information as well as hold opinions devoid of the interference by the state. Every citizen has the right to express himself/herself or communicate in any medium. In fact, the citizens have the right to demonstrations as well as participate in the public protest. The kinds of expression, which are protected by the right of the freedom of expression are the commercial expression, artistic expression, and political expression. The right to the political expression is the one that is mostly targeted by the police using the social media.
Notably, the right to the freedom of expression allows the citizens to question their governments when they engage in the activities that contravene their countries’ constitutions. Nonetheless, some governments, especially in the less developed democracies use their police forces to violate the individual’s right to the freedom of expression through the social media. In particular, the police forces of these countries utilize the social media politically to profile as well as target the activists and innocent citizens who express their dissatisfaction with the running of their countries. In other words, the less democratic governments through their police forces politically profile, trace, and target their critics using the social media sites. It is important to note that different social media sites essentially present better platforms where the common citizens criticize their country’s governance. However, the law enforcement agencies including the police departments in some countries, especially the less developed countries use the social media sites to silence the citizens who express their political feelings through the social network sites. Consequently, this constitutes the violation of the people’s right to the freedom of expression.
Having the freedom of expression on the social media sites is essentially a means for the individuals to express their annoyance devoid of feeling distressed, nervous, and uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, every human being has the right to make use of the social media sites to express their opinions. In essence, the individuals use the social media sites to protest against the different vices such as racism and corruption within the societies. Nevertheless, the misuse of the social media by the police makes the people fear to express their opinions. In other words, the activists who realize that they are continuously monitored by the police in their social media sites shy away from fighting against the vices committed in the society. The monitoring of their activities on the social media sites by the police essentially silence their voices. As a result, this facilitates the abuse of power by those who are in the leadership positions. Apart from monitoring the social media activities of the activists, the police also monitor the activities of the innocent citizens. In other words their target the innocent citizens using the social media sites. As a result, they make them fear to express their opinions. In fact, this constitutes the violation of the right to the freedom of expression.
What is more, the police practice of using the social media might violate the individual’s right to the freedom of assembly or association. In essence, the misuse of the social media by the police forces might result in the infringement of the people’s right to the freedom of peaceful assembly or association. Ideally, the fundamental right to the freedom of peaceful assembly or association ought to be enjoyed devoid of the state regulation. It is the right of all people to assemble or associate peacefully. Besides, no one ought to be compelled to join an association. It is imperative to note that in this age of social media, many individuals exercise their rights to the peaceful assemble or associate online. In particular, people from different parts of the world utilize the social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among others to exchange information and assemble or associate.
A good example of the use of the social media by the people to share information as well as assemble was during the Egyptian revolution. The protesters utilized the social media to exchange information as well as organize protests, which facilitated the overthrow of the unpopular government. Consequently, the social media helped the Egyptians express their right to assemble or associate. Nevertheless, the practice of the use of social media by the police of some undemocratic countries might lead to the breach of the citizens’ right to freedom of assembly or association online. The police might misuse the social media to restrain the individuals from sharing information online and organizing protests. In other words, the autocratic governments use the social media to target the associational activities that take place in the social media sites. As a result, this constitutes the violation of the citizens’ right to the freedom of peaceful association or assembly.
The international law protects the groups of individuals who engage in the associational activities either online or in the land (Rutzen and Zenn n.p). In fact, the countries are required to respect the rights of their citizens to assemble as well as associate online and in the land. Apart from using the social media monitoring software secretly, some dictatorial governments, especially in the less developed countries have even gone further to restrict the access of their citizens to the social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. These governments have even blocked the internet to prevent their citizens from sharing information as well as assembling or associating online. In essence, these countries violate the international law as well as the individuals’ rights to assemble or associate. Sadly, the police forces in the less democratic countries monitor the online activities of the protesters using the social media monitoring software. They misuse the social media sites to infringe on the universal rights of the citizens. They harass them for trying to exercise their right to the freedom of association or assembly.
Conclusively, the paper has explained how the police practice of using social media encroach upon the rights of a person. These rights include the right to privacy, the right to the freedom of expression, and the right to the freedom of assembly or association. The police secretly use the social media monitoring software and, as a consequence, infringe on the individuals’ right to privacy. They also misuse and abuse the social media to violate the peoples’ right to the freedom of expression and right to the freedom of assembly or association.
Works Cited
Murphy, Justin P., and Adrian Fontecilla. "Social media evidence in government investigations and criminal proceedings: A frontier of new legal issues." Rich. JL & Tech. 19 (2013): 11-14.
Rutzen, Douglas, and Jacob Zenn. "Association and Assembly in the Digital Age." The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law 13 (2011).
Voorhoof, Dirk. "The right to freedom of expression and information under the European Human Rights system: towards a more transparent democratic society." (2014).
