Police: Criminal evidence can be drawn from Facebook, MySpace
Daily Nebraskan (U. Nebraska)
Jamie Klein
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: National News
LINCOLN, Neb. (U-WIRE) - Two years ago, campus police ticketed a junior at an Illinois university after they used his Facebook profile to prove he lied about knowing another student's name.
If students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln post evidence of a crime on their Facebook profiles, they could be in trouble with the cops here, too. But that doesn't mean University Police are constantly scouring Facebook or MySpace pages.
University Police usually use Facebook only as a resource when an incident is reported to them, said University Police Officer Jim Davis.
University Police use Facebook reactively, rather than proactively scouring the social networking site, he said.
"We respond to what is reported to us," Davis said.
For example, if a student was threatened via a Facebook or MySpace post, he or she could report threats to University Police, who would then investigate.
"If someone threatens you across MySpace or Facebook, don't delete it and call us right away," Davis said. "It's still a threat, and we take it very seriously."
Students should be aware that anything posted on the Internet, including items posted on online communities such as Facebook and MySpace, has the potential to be used as evidence in a criminal case.
"There is no question that what is posted on the Internet can be used as evidence," said John McQuinn, Lincoln's chief city prosecutor. "It's on a case-by-case basis (and depends) on a lot of different factors."
McQuinn said there are many items to be considered before a picture or comment could be used as evidence in a criminal case.
Intent and context of the message or picture must be considered, he said.
"That's the difficulty with Internet communications," McQuinn said. "(It's) looked at on a case-by-case basis."
McQuinn said people need to understand that everything - even anonymous comments and posts - on the Internet is traceable.
"Just be really cautious," Davis said. "Keep (information) close to yourself; never give out personal information."
If students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln post evidence of a crime on their Facebook profiles, they could be in trouble with the cops here, too. But that doesn't mean University Police are constantly scouring Facebook or MySpace pages.
University Police usually use Facebook only as a resource when an incident is reported to them, said University Police Officer Jim Davis.
University Police use Facebook reactively, rather than proactively scouring the social networking site, he said.
"We respond to what is reported to us," Davis said.
For example, if a student was threatened via a Facebook or MySpace post, he or she could report threats to University Police, who would then investigate.
"If someone threatens you across MySpace or Facebook, don't delete it and call us right away," Davis said. "It's still a threat, and we take it very seriously."
Students should be aware that anything posted on the Internet, including items posted on online communities such as Facebook and MySpace, has the potential to be used as evidence in a criminal case.
"There is no question that what is posted on the Internet can be used as evidence," said John McQuinn, Lincoln's chief city prosecutor. "It's on a case-by-case basis (and depends) on a lot of different factors."
McQuinn said there are many items to be considered before a picture or comment could be used as evidence in a criminal case.
Intent and context of the message or picture must be considered, he said.
"That's the difficulty with Internet communications," McQuinn said. "(It's) looked at on a case-by-case basis."
McQuinn said people need to understand that everything - even anonymous comments and posts - on the Internet is traceable.
"Just be really cautious," Davis said. "Keep (information) close to yourself; never give out personal information."
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