undreds of emails from last year show that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) worked with Dataminr, a controversial social media surveillance company, to monitor protesters’ and journalists’ social media accounts during the civil uprisings following the murder of George Floyd. The public records conflict with an earlier statement from the department claiming that they didn’t use the system during the Black Lives Matter lead protests.
Utilized by governments, law enforcement agencies, and even newsrooms, Dataminr’s products are intended to monitor “high impact” events and “emerging risks.” On their website, they boast about identifying a gas explosion in Manhattan and the Orlando, Florida mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, minutes ahead of major news coverage.
Backed by a contract with Twitter that gives them exclusive access to tweets directly after they’re published (commonly known as the Twitter firehose), and a team of analysts that monitor other social media platforms, Dataminr compiles public information in realtime and sells it to back their clients.
Last summer, the LAPD told The Intercept that they conducted a trial with Dataminr but chose not to enter into a contract with the company. They also denied that they used Dataminr in connection with the early BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd in May and June.
However, emails reviewed by L.A. TACO prove that the department was forwarded dozens of Tweets, Snaps, Facebook posts, and other social media...
Read Full Story: https://www.lataco.com/lapd-social-media-surveillance-protest/
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