For many us, when you see that a friend has checked-in somewhere posted on Facebook, your eyes probably glaze over and you quickly skip past their Foursquare recommendation of a specific restaurant or coffee shop. But last fall, you may have noticed that a large number of your Facebook friends apparently went to the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. Maybe you even paid a ‘visit’ yourself. Of course, (most of) these people weren’t actually there, but were simply using Facebook’s ‘check in’ feature. A viral post claimed that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department was using Facebook check-ins to identify and target protestors at Standing Rock; the post then called on Facebook users to check-in, which would “overwhelm and confuse” the police.
In other words, police were allegedly using social media location data to go after protestors, and – mobilized by a viral post – people used this same technology to turn the tables and lend support without leaving their homes.
The Standing Rock protestors were trying to block the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, since it would affect the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and destroy burial grounds and other cultural sites. The protests are ongoing, with thousands opposing the pipeline, and almost 600 arrests in the area since August. So far, no protest group has claimed credit for the viral Facebook post.
The Sheriff’s Department denied that they were using Facebook to track protestors, and some commentators have suggested that – despite being a welcomed show of solidarity – the people at home who were checking into Standing Rock weren’t really helping.
So do law enforcement use location data from social media to track protestors? And is the Standing Rock check-in just another example of good-intentioned, but ultimately insignificant slacktivism?
For the first question – the answer is yes, definitely. For the second one – the answer seems to be, ‘depends on who you ask.’
You might have heard of a Chicago-based company Geofeedia, which has marketed its capacity to monitor protestors using content from social media platforms to help law enforcement surveillance efforts. The company made headlines last fall when an email obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that more than 500 clients had been signed up for the service; law enforcement in Baltimore had reportedly used Geofeedia to oversee and manage the protests surrounding the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015.
The company apparently used programs offered by Facebook and other social media platforms that are normally used by app developers and ad companies, to do things like track content and user engagement. Geofeedia allowed law enforcement to search for content in particular locations – rather than, say, by keywords or hashtags – in an attempt to monitor and control protests.
Although Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms claimed to block Geofeedia’s access in response to this usage of their data, they faced criticism for the lack of proper oversight.
It shouldn’t come as a shock that our data is being collected by social media platforms, accessed by third party companies, and then used by law enforcement and government agencies in a way that has alarming implications for privacy and freedom of speech. But companies like Geofeedia are a reminder that the process is becoming increasingly prevalent, and rather than responding with indignation, it seems like for many people, these kinds of infringements are becoming normalized.
What about the claim that Standing Rock check-ins were just another example of slacktivism?
Sacred Stone Camp emailed a statement to Mic that addresses the question from a few interesting angles, noting that the tactic was “a great way to express solidarity” and that there is “no doubt that law enforcement monitor communications and comb social media for incriminating material.” Further, the protest had been largely ignored by the mainstream media until this point, with the Facebook check-ins not only capturing the news media’s attention, but showing that protestors and supporters can sidestep the press to organize and communicate with one another.
On the other hand, physical action and monetary support is still needed and called for – checking-in on Facebook helps bring attention to the cause in the short-term, but in order to have any success in blocking the construction of the pipeline, it might take more than a digital trip to Standing Rock.
