Daniel O’Rourke

Social media has begun to dominate our lives more and more over the last decade. What began with niche applications that served only portions of society have now evolved into a number of extremely large companies, like Facebook and Instagram, that dominate our everyday lives. We have even seen the increased prevalence of social applications for many different purposes. One popular example of this includes the rise of applications that facilitate networking and formal communication with employers, such as Linkedin. This has been both an interesting and expanding trend, as we have seen more and more aspects of our lives become impacted. Sure, there have certainly been negative consequences; cyber-bullying and trends of damaged self-esteem are just a couple of examples of how social media can hurt as much as it helps us. However, we have also seen a strong sense of community that has arisen in different pockets on different applications; groups of people that have come together with the desire to help others. One example that we have seen is that of social media sleuthing: a trend where people on the internet take it upon themselves to solve unsolved crimes, utilizing the world wide web.

The trend of social media sleuthing has been popular enough in recent years that a number of stories have been published relating to this trend. However, many of the major stories that one sees surrounding this topic are usually comical in nature, and feature the criminals in question acting in a an illicit and stupid manner, and then going on to publicize it online. These stories feature a surge in popularity for the criminal, and the subsequent attention of law enforcement. A good example of one of these cases is the case of a teenager in the United States. They had been posting pictures online of them with weapons and drugs, apparently showing off their lifestyle. A group of people shared these photos with local law enforcement, who promptly arrested the person in question. The internet is littered with these cases that feature people’s foolishness, rather than legitimate detective work.

There are also many, many cases of people online spreading vast amounts of information and videos to identify both victims and suspects, though. Most digital detective work amounts to simply identifying corpses and criminals. Take the case of another teenager in the United States who, in 1995, was found dead. The only item he had? The Grateful Dead ticket in his pocket. By circulating the ticket, and the accompanying information, people were able to track down the young man’s family from halfway across the country. Most cases on social media are similar to this. However, every so often, there are miraculous cases where the internet community bands together to actually solve a case, or to provide much needed evidence to law enforcement. These cases are just an example of how communities can band together online, as well as the power and connectedness of the flow of information around the world today. Cases have arisen where people are tracked down from across countries by new neighbors. There have been cases where criminals are caught decades later as information finally reaches people. These cases show the strength of social media sleuthing.

Unfortunately, the internet has a far longer memory than any one person, and the judgement of people online can be absolute. In addition to this unforgiving culture, when a person has something negative published about them it is difficult to impossible to get it taken down. This is largely why the GDPR, Government Data Protection Regulation, includes a right for people known as “the right to be forgotten.” This is derived from an old English law, which states that after a period of time a person’s prior criminal activities no longer hold bearing over things like employment. This law allows citizens in the European Union to request information be taken down about them online, and no longer be shown by search engines like Google. This is an extremely important act: it allows people to have a fresh start in a world where we have almost unlimited information at our fingertips.

While the passage of the “right to be forgotten” might seem like a net benefit, there are many opposing voices that see the act as more harmful than beneficial. They argue that people can use the act to effectively rewrite history, damaging how those in the future can get the full scope of what occurred in the past. This is also a very fair point. Some crimes and actions are so egregious that it bears always remembering them. More importantly, how can we learn from the past or study it in any significant way if we are constantly erasing it? It seems that the best course of action would be to simply take each instance on a case by case basis; to decide if the given information should be kept as public record or thrown away. But this process is surely too tedious and time-consuming for courts to handle. Thus, we are presented with a difficult choice. However, I feel that we must remember to not forget to feel empathy for people whose lives may be ruined by information online. It’s important to put yourself in the shoes of others, and feel how powerless they must feel to not be able to control the narrative of their own lives, to not even be able to get a fresh start. I am of the opinion that, at the end of the day, a person’s right to be forgotten is paramount. We must not forget the past; but we also must not forget to feel compassion for those around us.

References

Rogers, K. (2015). ‘Grateful Doe’ is Identified 20 Years After Road Trip Death. The New York Times. [online]. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/12/us/grateful-doe-is-identified-20-years-after-road-trip-death.html

Taylor, V. (2013). Florida Man’s Instagram Photos Lead to 142 Felony Charges. Daily News. [online]. Available at https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-instagram-leads-142-felony-charges-article-1.1547932