Don't be social be solid

Ok, the protests are over and the urge is to get online to check out the photos/videos, then upload your own and chat with your friends about the days events. However, please consider the following first...

Loose lips sink ships (well, not ships in this case but you'll get the point). Emailing, texting or chatting online to friends about possibly unlawful activities is not wise and may attract police attention to you or others. Don't invite trouble. Text messages, email and corporate social networking or blog sites are not secure and may lead the cops right to your door eager to ask you questions.

On a similar note, uploading videos and photos from protest flash points might lead the police to arresting the wrong people (ie. not Clegg and the other lying cheating scum politicians, bankers etc). Be very careful about what you publish as there is no point in helping the cops/state/mainstream media in devising and destroying our movement. That said, your photos/videos may prove vital to somebody arrested/assaulted in mounting a defence or making a complaint. It would be a good ideal to inform the Green and Black Cross Legal Team (

GBCLegal@riseup.net), about potentially useful footage/photos, as they are helping to co-ordinate legal support.

Likewise, if you witnessed an incident leading to an arrest/assault then think carefully before writing about it on Facebook etc. If you feel the need to write up what you saw then protect yourself and others by publishing anonymously via indymedia rather than corporate social networking sites or blogs. Make sure that you speak to the Green and Black Cross Legal Team so they can put you in touch with solicitors defending those arrested.

solidarity with all the protesters

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

Hear hear to all of the above.

26.11.2010 17:35

Hear hear to all of the above.

I only publish photos of people engaged in what can be termed as perfectly legal activity - if I'm not sure, I don't publish them, as I do not wish to be seen to be indicting anyone, even by accident.

I would also advise against using social networking sites to discuss or promote activism, because these areas of the internet are the most intensively data mined and monitored of all.

DON'T FACEBOOK FOR ACTIVISM, use other more secure and trusted independant servers and sites.

If you have a Facebook (or other) page, never mention activism on it, not in even in passing, because EVERYTHING you say or do is stored on their servers in perpetuity.

U.S. laws (where most of Facebook's servers are) says that all stateside ISPs and commerical servers are required by law to hold personal data for up to two years, so that U.S. police and intelligence services can access it at short notice in the course of their own enquiries.

THINK BEFORE YOU POST.

IMC Contributor.

But..

27.11.2010 18:03

Some good advice for sure. But the comment above about never mentioning activism on Facebook is wide of the mark! These protests are big and diverse, sites like Indymedia are not going to be central points for people to find out about upcoming actions etc. It is unlikely that so many students and school kids would be finding out and attending these walkouts and demo's if it wasn't for Facebook! Of course educating people of staying safe on these sites is essential, but redirecting to independent sites like this will not work. I for one am often embarrassed by many of the posts and comments on Indymedia UK and would have reservations about directing a non-politico here.

Student

@"student"

28.11.2010 18:15

I understand your point and facebook can absolutely be helpful in the promotion of such activities, however it can also be very useful to the cops when people tag people in photographs taken at an action/ protest. Lots of people have been doing this and someone recently got nicked after being tagged apparently committing criminal damage on a photo. A friend of mine was tagged in an empty building not long ago and the photo was used in court to try to charge him with burglary. Also even if those that aren't directly committing a crime in the photo, it still places them at the event

I think it's important to simply bear in mind that whatever one puts on facebook one is basically telling the police.

bob

UK Indymedia

Don't be social be solid

Comments

Hear hear to all of the above.

But..

@"student"