Do Not Accept Friend Request

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Friend, We’re painfully aware of social media’s misinformation and conspiracies. But something more concerning is lurking in our friend requests: the police. With one click, officers posing as “friends” can access our private social media content. Why build your own surveillance networks when you can coopt Silicon Valley’s? Deploying new software, a single officer can run legions of fake accounts that scour posts and private messages, bypassing legal scrutiny through coerced “consent.” This deceit enables algorithmic social media monitoring, including so-called “gang” databases that systematically target Black and Latinx youth based on the color of their clothes or the content of their Spotify playlists. It’s also only gotten worse during the pandemic, as police capitalize on our human need for connection during essential social distancing. Big Tech’s collusion with police has put our already vulnerable data at risk in other unexpected ways. Just last week, S.T.O.P. condemned Apple and Meta for allowing fake officers to hack social media accounts through forged police requests. Whether it’s police pretending to be civilians, or hackers pretending to be police, social media firms are putting our most sensitive information at risk. No one should be tricked out of their Constitutional rights. Instead, it’s time for New York to unfriend social media monitoring and outlaw fake police accounts. In solidarity, Nina Loshkajian Legal Fellow Share Tweet Forward Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.