Like wildfire, the latest viral protest spreading across the internet involves Facebook users checking in at Standing Rock, ND en masse to “confuse” and “overwhelm” law enforcement authorities seeking to disrupt ongoing protests against the proposed path of an oil pipeline.
A viral Facebook post claims that the local sheriff’s department in Morton County is using Facebook check-ins to surveil and track Standing Rock protesters. The post urges users who support the protests to check in publicly at Standing Rock in order to confuse police and make it more difficult to track protesters.
In a statement, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said it is not using Facebook check-ins to surveil protesters, calling claims to the contrary “absolutely false.”
As of now there have been hundreds of thousands of check-ins made by Facebook users and the phrase “Standing Rock” has seen a massive uptick in popularity according to Google Trends.
The use of Facebook check-ins to track activity is a known tactic used by police forces to identify suspects, according to a report from LexisNexis on the use of social media by law enforcement. However, in this large scale situation, it is possible that the check-ins could equally thwart efforts by protestors to coordinate and organize their groups.
This post will be updated as we receive more information. We have reached out to Facebook and protest leaders for comment.
Featured Image: ROBYN BECK / Staff/Getty Images
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