Students & Social Media

Not too long ago the highlight of our day was hearing “You’ve got mail!”

Those were simpler times when we didn’t have to worry so much about offending people with what we posted or someone sharing our status. But now, social media allows anyone, including students, to make any part of life much more public. Whether you like it or not.

Politicians, professional athletes, and celebrities are the most common groups to have their posts shared, retweeted, and broadcast across social media platforms for all to see. But lately, students have been making waves. From social justice campaigns, to controversial photos or videos, students’ social media posts can stir up some strong reactions.

So what exactly is acceptable when students decide to take their opinions online? Can students expect to have their “free speech” protected?

The First Amendment and Online Expression

In general, students have the right to freedom of expression unless it infringes on the rights of others, school safety, or interferes with the ability of a school to deliver its educational services and processes. Thus, off-campus online expression would be protected in the same way as traditional speech.

We must protect First Amendment rights of students while also recognizing that schools do have some ability, under very limited circumstances, to discipline students for off-campus speech.

But when “free speech” becomes threatening, that’s when educators need to speak up. Some instances of student social media use, including that which is off-campus, amount to misconduct that can be disciplined according to school policy.

Let an administrator know about student social media use that:

  • Breaches school policy.
  • Leads to or creates substantial disruption to the educational process.
  • Results in bullying toward students or staff.
  • Threatens school violence.

Here are some questions that may help students decipher what they should and should not do when using social media in regards to school policy.

 

Do I have the right to access social media while I’m at school?

Yes and No. It is up to the school to determine when it is appropriate to use devices that allow social media access. Some schools prohibit personal cell phones on campus and others may block certain sites on their computers and networks. Check your school’s policy to learn the rules.

 

Are my rights different if I use a school computer or device instead of my own?

Yes. Most schools have rules for their own computers and devices that you have to follow. There may be software installed that monitors your activity, including browsing history, so be cautious of the actions you take while on a shared device. And always log out of your accounts!

Can my school search for my social media activity without telling me?

Yes and No. If your school starts a social media monitoring program, they must let you and your parents know, allow you to see the information they have collected about your social media activity, and delete it when you leave the district or turn 18.

If your school does not have a monitoring program, you do not have the right to know what information teachers and officials find through their own searching on social media. Remember, anything you post publicly can be seen by anybody, including police officers, teachers, officials, and other students.

Can I be disciplined for simply expressing my opinion on social media?

Sometimes. You have the right to speak your mind on social media. Your school cannot punish you just because it doesn’t agree with your opinion. However, you can be disciplined if you say something on social media during school hours or at a school function or event that officials believe could lead to a “substantial disruption,” your school can discipline you.

You can also get in trouble for “cyberbullying” outside of school. This includes creating false profiles, impersonating other students, or creating fake pages in order to bully someone.

What is a “substantial disruption”?

Your speech is a substantial disruption when it encourages violations of school rules, illegal activities, or it risks causing a big interference with the education of other students. For example, threats to other students or your teachers using social media will likely be considered a substantial disruption.

What can I do to prevent school officials from looking at what I post on social media?

Make sure your passwords are secret so that others can’t sign in to your accounts and post as you. Manage your privacy settings to make sure only your friends see your profile and posts. And remember that the people you decide to share with may share your posts with others or in a public way.

Ultimately, with the great power of social media comes great responsibility. Whether online or offline, on-site or off-campus, student communication in the digital era is still plainly a First Amendment issue. We must keep that in mind.

The Importance of Preserving Social Media Evidence

Social media has changed the way we communicate and live. We feel the need to document our entire life, from our child’s first day of school, to details of our family vacation, and even what we ate for dinner. Most of us assume our posts are completely innocent, but nowadays social media has become an extraordinary source of evidence. Our digital footprint grows daily with every photo posted, status updated and video shared. These footprints are hard to erase.

Yesterday’s status update can easily become evidence in future litigation. This is especially true in criminal, family, personal injury and employment law. The practice of law and the ability to access information relevant to a case has been noticeably impacted by the internet. Furthermore, the rise of social media has given everyone with an internet connection the ability to receive, send, and store information in numerous formats.

So how does this storage and sharing of information on personal social media accounts can play out in a legal case?

Private Posts Are Not Always Private

Social media users utilize their privacy settings in different ways. Some people may have private Instagram and Facebook accounts but a public Twitter account. Or they may have a private Facebook account and public Instagram. Different platforms allow users to fine tune exactly what they want other followers, users, or browsers to see.

But just how much privacy do you actually have? Limiting a photograph you post to a specific audience is more private than making it public. But do you really have an expectation of privacy when you post to hundreds of “friends”, even with your privacy settings activated?

Police in Jacksonville, Florida, utilized social media in an investigation called Operation Rap Up. Numerous alleged gang members were arrested for illegally possessing weapons, which is prohibited for people with felony records in the state. The sheriff told media that at least some of the evidence had come from YouTube videos posted by the accused.

More and more, police are increasingly turning to the internet to gather evidence about suspects, and this material is being used in civil suits, ranging from divorces to personal injury claims. If you file suit claiming that an injury sidelined you from professionally playing basketball, yet later post pictures of yourself shooting hoops, as the defense argued in a recent New York case, the court will more than likely give the opposition access to your devices for more potential evidence.

There are numerous methods of capturing this evidence.

1) Print
When police, lawyers, or investigators observe something on social media in real time, they capture it immediately. There’s always a chance posts, photos, and tweets will be deleted so grab them while you have the chance. By printing the web page or social media post, you have a date and time stamp in case the evidence is deleted.

2) Screenshot
A better method of preserving social media evidence is to capture a screenshot or screen picture. Essentially, you’re using software to take a photo of what’s viewable on the display.

3) Software and tools built to preserve

While printing or saving a screenshot preserves what you see, screenshots lack the behind-the-scenes information (called metadata) that’s embedded into the webpage or post. Police, investigators, and the like can now utilize software built specifically for collecting and preserving online and social media content. These tools log the accurate visual representation of the content as well as all available metadata such as date, time, location, poster’s IP address and browser used. All content can be digitally signed and time-stamped in satisfaction of the legal requirements for submitting digital content as evidence.

As people increasingly share their lives online, the incredible amount of content will continue to grow and often be relevant to litigation. And most courts are happy to allow this evidence. Judges have been generally receptive to granting law enforcement warrants to obtain social media records to use against them for an arrest or in an existing case against them. Facebook maintains a portal for law enforcement to request evidence associated with an official investigation. Twitter has codified a detailed set of guidelines for law enforcement requesting and obtaining such evidence. YouTube, Google, and WhatsApp have done the same.

But That’s Not Our Guy – Why Social Media & Online Research Can Be Frustrating

DIY platforms and other data gathering programs are great, but before you consider them to be inaccurate or not helpful, keep in mind that they are only as good as the person using them for research.

For many professions, including private investigators, law firms, and insurance companies, social media and online research on individuals has opened a new venue for assisting with investigations into court cases, insurance fraud, and other situations.

While it can be done, it can also be time consuming and frustrating. The more common the name, and the less information that is being used to search for a person’s online activity, the longer it can take. One roadblock is information that does not actually belong to the person you’re looking at – their information is getting mixed up with someone else with the same name.

In talking with folks in the industry, this is a pain point that not only makes it more difficult to search for people online, but it also gives the impression that the quality of such searches is not great. This can make investigators leery and question the benefit of conducting such research.

It’s important to remember a few key points when considering options for conducting social and online research:

1. Software is good, but will never be perfect. Whether it’s a DIY online search platform or TLO/Tracers/IDI report, there is a chance that information will be provided that does not in fact belong to the individual you’re interested in, whether it’s a phone number, email address, or social site. The opportunity for false positives is there no matter what platform is being used.

It’s important to utilize multiple software platforms – what one will pick up, another will miss, and what one provides as a “false positive” another will not pick up at all. Each platform works off its own algorithm, or process for producing search results based on what information is provided about an individual.

If an investigator is using such programs to conduct a search, they can be very valuable. However, it is important to keep in mind that not all information provided will be accurate; these are meant to be used as a starting point in an online investigation – manual research & identification will be needed to confirm whether a piece of information really belongs to the person you’re looking at. Typically, if it’s not readily clear from the initial search, a good rule of thumb is to find three pieces of confirmation to ensure it’s the person’s social account or site.

Here’s an example: if you find a Facebook page that you think belongs to the individual, but perhaps it’s not really clear just from looking at the user name or “About” section, take a look at their friends list, places they’ve checked in, “About section” to see if birthdays or employers are listed, etc. If you can identify the location of the individual whose Facebook page you’re looking at, or maybe confirm that some of their Facebook friends are relatives that correspond with findings from a TLO report, then you can be more certain that it’s the right account.

2. What may seem to be inaccurate information can actually be a key to what you’re looking for. Sometimes people will see social reports and say something like, “That phone number for Joe is so old and hasn’t been used in years. This report isn’t accurate at all. I want his current phone number.” Valid point, but here’s something to keep in mind: Joe may have accounts, comments, or forum membership tied to these old numbers. While he’s not currently using the phone number, the accounts still live online and are easier to tie to Joe. Sometimes these old accounts are long forgotten, which means they’re not being scrubbed if they are involved in a situation where a lawyer tells them to “clean up their online presence.” This means that there could be valuable information to find based on what seems to be inaccurate information.

3. DIY programs are great, but they are called DIY for a reason. There are many companies who will allow you to purchase a subscription to an online search product to find content posted by or about an individual. As this type of research has evolved, the services have greatly improved. There is definitely a place for do it yourself search programs – but you have to do it yourself. No matter what the company claims, it will not be as simple as entering some information about an individual and being presented with all of the person’s online activity without any false positives or inaccurate information. It’s going to take you (the “yourself” part in DIY) to validate, investigate, and determine the validity of the results. Before deeming a DIY program as not useful, remember its actual purpose and that it is not meant as a be all end all service. And, if the company is promising that it is, you may want to reconsider using it.

4. There is no magic bullet – online research takes a lot of time. There’s no way around it. While we all wish a software platform would be created to give us instant and completely accurate results, this will likely never happen. Why? Things are changing all the time, whether it’s social media privacy laws, Google algorithm updates, or any number of things that can change in an instant. This is where online and social media research gets tricky and frustrating, leaving people to give up easily. Software can not be relied on as a standalone product – manual research is needed to confirm the validity of the information provided, and then take that information as a starting point and fleshing out what can be found through manual searching. When multiple platforms and other similar products are used simultaneously, the time spent can be greatly reduced. This is why it can be useful to turn to a full-service social media and online research service – they often have efficiencies in place to search quicker and provide more accurate results, which saves a lot of time for those needing to conduct investigations.

DIY platforms and other data gathering programs are great, but before you consider them to be inaccurate or not helpful, keep in mind that they are only as good as the person using them for research. Take them for what they are and realize that they will not be the magic bullet to quickly investigate an individual’s online activity.