Tweet and Post at Your Own Peril

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It seems everyone from ex boyfriends to potential employers are leveraging social media networks to their advantage in order to find questionable material (such as embarrassing drunk photos unwisely posted on Facebook) about certain individuals. But they aren't the only ones; these days, police departments and other law enforcement officials are jumping on the bandwagon as well.

Many local law enforcement authorities are using networks such as Twitter and Facebook to distribute information and receive valuable tips from the public about certain issues. Take for instance the occurrence in Maine, where police posted images on Facebook from a surveillance video showing teenagers vandalizing a local hotel. Facebook members began to provide police tips about the identity of the teens and soon arrests were made and three suspects were charged and burglary and criminal mischief.

But could the technology also work against you? More specifically, could what you tweet or post on Facebook be construed as illegal and land you in trouble with the police? During the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh this past September, a New York man tweeted the location of police officers to protesters trying to evade them. He was arrested on charges of hindering prosecution.

In addition, the CIA is said to soon be monitoring tweets and other social content; its technology division recently partnered with Visible Technologies, which specializes in monitoring online social activity. While the concept may be startling (and certainly doesn't sit well civil liberties advocates), social media is a (relatively) new frontier that law enforcement needs to quickly adopt.

Moral of the story: be careful what you tweet or you may just be finding yourself in need of a reputable Maryland criminal lawyer!