Memphis Police Collect Private Facebook Posts of BLM Activists

According to documents newly released by the City of Memphis in response to an ACLU of Tennessee lawsuit police appear to have used a fake Facebook account to friend activists and archive who “liked” their posts.

The documents include a PowerPoint presentation on Black Lives Matter activists who had gathered at a bridge and at an Elvis Presley vigil to protest the police shooting of Memphis teenager Darrius Stewart. In a court deposition stemming from the ACLU’s lawsuit, the police officer who created the PowerPoint presentation admitted to tracking activists’ associations, including their spouses in one case, and the political groups they were involved in, including labor and Palestinian solidarity groups.

Police appear to have used a fake Facebook profile, “Bob Smith,” to befriend and gather information from activists, according to the deposition transcript. During the deposition, when an ACLU attorney asked an officer whether he had other accounts that he used beyond his personal account to track social media posts, his counsel insisted he not answer because that would get “into the details potentially of the Bob Smith account.”

Through such methods, it appears police were able not only to collect public social media posts, but also private ones. According to the deposition transcript, Memphis police obtained a nonpublic Facebook post of an activist who had recommended a Saul Alinsky book. The police then not only collected information on that nonpublic post but the names of 58 friends who “liked” the post.

Memphis police spying on activists has sparked controversy over the last two years. Several activists named in the social media posts have accused police of surveilling their homes and workplaces. Local media also reported on how authorities created a “watch list” of activists.  (The Appeal, July 27, 2018)