The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is setting up fake profiles to conduct surveillance on users. Facebook has mentioned this surveillance as spying and told the authority to stop these activities.
A few days ago, it is revealed that the US police department had been analyzing Facebook user data to solve crimes. The department was working with a tech firm for this purpose. But Facebook has been trying to remove all the fake accounts for years. They expressly prohibit the creation and use of fake accounts. Facebook said that they want to “create a safe environment where people can trust and hold one another accountable”.
Facebook’s vice president and deputy general counsel for civil rights Roy Austin wrote in a statement, “Not only do LAPD instructional documents use Facebook as an explicit example is advising officers to set up fake social media accounts, but documents also indicate that LAPD policies simply allow officers to create fake accounts for ‘online investigative activity.”
Roy also wrote, “While the legitimacy of such policies may be up to the LAPD, officers must abide by Facebook’s policies when creating accounts on our services. The Police Department should cease all activities on Facebook that involve the use of fake accounts, impersonation of others, and collection of data for surveillance purposes.”