Crime fighting has gone social with a string of folks posting evidence of their (alleged) crimes on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
By no means is this post exhaustive, but I did want to touch on a couple that made the rounds in the 24-hour news cycle as of late.
First up on the docket:
People of the State of YouTube v. ‘Chick Bank Robber’ – 19-year-old Nebraska teen Hannah Sabata allegedly basked in the glory of a successful bank robbery with a celebratory video on YouTube, in which she shows the fruits of her escapades – over $6000 cash. Sabata goes on to brag about how she stole a “shiny new” Pontiac Grand Am and held up the bank “with a gun, a pillow case and a note.” Adding dumb to stupidity, reports indicate she appears to be wearing the same clothes from the bank heist in her video.
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The facts of the case aside, since this is a forum focusing on iMedia-related topics, I am focusing on the act of posting the video to YouTube (which led to her arrest). As a reasonably well-education individual, I cannot seem to comprehend the thought process behind not just (allegedly … innocent until proven guilty after all) robbing a bank, but posting a video on YouTube bragging about it, with evidence of your (alleged) guilt in your hands.
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Next up:
People of the State of Facebook vs. Jacob Cox-Brown – 18-year-old Oregon teen Jacob Cox-Brown took to Facebook after ringing in 2013 to post the following status update:
Drivin drunk … classsic 😉 but to whoever’s vehicle I hit I am sorry. 😛
Two different individuals alerted police to Cox-Brown’s Facebook confession. Police found damage to his car matching damage sustained by two cars around one o’clock in the morning New Year’s Day. He was arrested and charged with two counts of failing to perform the duties of a driver (the status update was deemed insufficient evidence to charge Cox-Brown with drunk driving).
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Now, one could say the Oregon teen was perhaps still under the influence (PUI – posting under the influence?) when he logged on to Facebook to share the short story of his adventurous drive home. Again, I cannot seem to wrap my head around the thought process behind not just driving under the influence (in and of itself an incredibly dangerous and illegal act), but then posting on Facebook that you just did it, hitting a car in the process (and it turned out to be two cars).
I know it seems like I am chastising these two teens for the poor choices – not only committing crimes (allegedly), but then publicizing that fact on social media. And perhaps I am, to an extent anyway. I am trying to use these examples as a jumping off point for a larger debate around the power of social media and how to leverage social media to your benefit, not your detriment.
In days gone by, ‘youthful indiscretions’ came and went, continuing to exist only as cautionary tales told to impress, dissuade, and/or reminisce. Now, thanks in part to camera-packing smartphones, webcams, and an overall generational shift to a culture of ‘allshare’ (not just overshare anymore), they live on as tweets, Facebook posts and raw online videos.
Should the changing societal norms be taken into account and individuals be ‘cut a little slack’ with regard to their social media postings, or is it “anything you post can and will be used against you in a court of law or the court of public opinion?” Is it conceivable that one could make the argument that a post to social media isn’t “public” (in the sense that everyone, everywhere can see it), if it is shared only with a user’s friends or followers; or does the simple act of posting, shared to whatever degree, make the post fair game? Does there need to be more awareness and/or training on what may or may not be appropriate to share (and what may or may not get you into legal trouble) on social media?
Or is this just a sign of the times? In the era of ‘allshare’ – with individuals socially documenting nearly every single aspect of their lives on sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. – will sharing even your criminal activities be acceptable, perhaps even expected?
Green-White-Checkered 