Virtually legal: User-generated Internet can get students in trouble
Some universities and police are now using sites like Facebook.com and Youtube.com to catch rule-breakers
Robin Carol
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Features
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Rights and regulations surrounding this new technology are relatively unclear, and as a result the use of networking Web sites as a law enforcement tool has been up for debate.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, colleges across the country are deciding to what extent they should use Facebook as a way to monitor student behavior and legal compliance.
Many students voluntarily post pictures of themselves participating in illegal activities, such as underage drinking, drug use and hazing activities. Assistant Political Science Professor Deborah Schildkraut said that students should be wary of these decisions.
"It's important that students recognize that if they post something, it's public. It comes with risks," she said. "If a student keeps a diary and someone reads it, yes, that is personal, but it is also documented. People need to be aware there are consequences, but what's new is how easy it is for people to get caught."
One freshman, who wished to remain anonymous, found this out the hard way earlier this year.
"When I first got to Tufts, I wanted to party, so I set up a Beirut tournament [invitation] on Facebook," he said. "I set everything to private, so I don't know exactly how it happened, but an RA saw it and reported it to my RA, who sent the link to the police. While the tournament was happening, about an hour in, the police came and broke it up in my dorm room."
In spite of this incident, the freshman said that he has not changed anything about the way he uses Facebook.
"I had everything set so that only my friends could look at it; I didn't even have it set so that the entire Tufts network could see it," he said. "I knew that I didn't want future employers or the school seeing anything, and I still don't know how I was caught, so no, I haven't changed anything."
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