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EFF: Facebook Should Notify Users Who Interact With Fake Police 'Sock Puppet' Accounts (eff.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a senior investigative researcher at the EFF:
Despite Facebook's repeated warnings that law enforcement is required to use "authentic identities" on the social media platform, cops continue to create fake and impersonator accounts to secretly spy on users. By pretending to be someone else, cops are able to sneak past the privacy walls users put up and bypass legal requirements that might require a warrant to obtain that same information...
EFF is now calling on Facebook to escalate the matter with law enforcement in the United States. Facebook should take the following actions to address the proliferation of fake/impersonator Facebook accounts operated by law enforcement, in addition to suspending the fake accounts.
- As part of its regular transparency reports, Facebook should publish data on the number of fake/impersonator law enforcement accounts identified, what agencies they belonged to, and what action was taken.
- When a fake/impersonator account is identified, Facebook should alert the users and groups that interacted with the account whether directly or indirectly.
The article also suggests updating Facebook's Terms of Service to explicitly prohibit fake/impersonator profiles by law enforcement groups, and updating Facebook pages of law enforcement groups to inform visitors when those groups have a written policy allowing fake/impersonator law enforcement accounts. "These four changes are relatively light lifts that would enhance transparency and establish real consequences for agencies that deliberately violate the rules..."
"Facebook's practice of taking down these individual accounts when they learn about them from the press (or from EFF) is insufficient to deter what we believe is a much larger iceberg beneath the surface."
EFF is now calling on Facebook to escalate the matter with law enforcement in the United States. Facebook should take the following actions to address the proliferation of fake/impersonator Facebook accounts operated by law enforcement, in addition to suspending the fake accounts.
- As part of its regular transparency reports, Facebook should publish data on the number of fake/impersonator law enforcement accounts identified, what agencies they belonged to, and what action was taken.
- When a fake/impersonator account is identified, Facebook should alert the users and groups that interacted with the account whether directly or indirectly.
The article also suggests updating Facebook's Terms of Service to explicitly prohibit fake/impersonator profiles by law enforcement groups, and updating Facebook pages of law enforcement groups to inform visitors when those groups have a written policy allowing fake/impersonator law enforcement accounts. "These four changes are relatively light lifts that would enhance transparency and establish real consequences for agencies that deliberately violate the rules..."
"Facebook's practice of taking down these individual accounts when they learn about them from the press (or from EFF) is insufficient to deter what we believe is a much larger iceberg beneath the surface."
Have them (every law enforcement agent directly involved, that knew about it, and didn't stop them, their supervisor(s), etc. all the way to the top), charged, arrested, imprisoned.
It's the only way to be sure.
Make sure they are interrogated, intensely, using "enhanced" methods (as the CIA likes to call it), to reveal the names of every other person involved so that the entire "cancerous" body within the legal infrastructure is surgically removed and cauterized to stop the hemorrhaging of our civil rights.
While personally I hate the general process of law enforcement in the current era. To my knowledge stings etc... are legal, considering how often I see unmarked cars pulling people over, hearing about undercover cops buying drugs etc... Also kind of weird that EFF is actually working more towards Facebook cracking down on anonymous accounts. IMO they should however be more fighting towards CONSISTENT rules. IE treat law enforcement sockpuppets discovered the same as if an ordinary joe is caught using a fake name. IMO facebook shouldn't be treating cops differently, IMO if they catch John Doe using a fake account, I don't think they should be telling all his friends that he's actually John Smith. Nor do I like the idea of telling the Mafia that the person they were negotiating with was actually Officer Jim Johnson and can be found at 123 Fake St.
Well I know about the NRA, but who's PETA astroturfing for? It looks like a bunch of genuinely incompetent vegan nutballs.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel