After at least four years of lying about its rubberstamp takedown process for prison authorities and omitting prison takedowns from its transparency reports, Facebook is finally bringing a crumb of due process to its treatment of prisoners.
Facebook's cozy relationship with prison authorities came to light over the inmate who got 37 years in solitary for posting updates to the service. The company maintained that it only took down prisoners' postings when they violated its Terms of Service, but emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests reveal a rubberstamp process that allows prison authorities to remove anything they want from Facebook without any showing of wrongdoing. What's more, the company covered this up, omitting jail- and prison-related takedowns from its annual Transparency Reports.
California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been especially aggressive in attacking inmates' Facebook posts where no terms of service violations took place, despite the fact that it has no policy against social media use by prisoners.
Facebook has finally announced that it will tighten its procedures for removing prisoners' posts and profiles. It's changed the name of the Inmate Account Takedown Request" to "Report An Inmate's Account" and asks for information on the inmate's offense, dates of incarceration and release, and citations of specific laws or policies the inmate is alleged to have violated.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pitched a tantrum when it got the news, sending bullying notes to Facebook demanding that its absolute authority be reinstated.
Asked why CDCR staff is allowed to take these actions, particularly when no ToS violation has occurred, a department spokesperson involved in these takedowns responded:
If an inmate possesses a cell phone while incarcerated that is a crime under California state law. If an inmate administers a Facebook account via a contraband cell phone then that Facebook account was administered during the commission of a crime. Just like cars, houses and other possessions may be seized as a result of being used in the commission of a crime, we shut down Facebook pages.
This is troubling on so many levels. It just isn't how it works in U.S.: when police catch someone stealing a computer or phone, the police do not get to go around demanding websites erase everything the person said on the Internet using that device.
Further, with asset forfeiture there are due process measures in place that allow people to challenge the seizure of their property. There is currently no process in place for inmates to appeal to have their Facebook profiles reinstated.
With regards to inmates having friends and family members (i.e. "third parties") access Facebook for them: prisons generally should not be using their authority to enforce a digital service provider's terms of service. That's between the company and the user.
One key point to remember: when Facebook takes down an inmate's profile, it isn't just censorship of the inmate. Everyone who commented on the profile or posted links to the profile loses that content when the account is suspended.
Facebook Overhauls Its Inmate Account Takedown Process
[Dave Maass/EFF]
