Washington
Over decade of Washington, D.C., protests, police scanned social media for 'disrupters' | StateScoop
Over the last ten years, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., has used automated, online surveillance tools to monitor individuals’ social media activity during protected activities, such as protests, and even employed fake social media accounts, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report, which was a collaboration between the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and the Data for Black Lives collective, shared the results of a 2020 Freedom of Information Act request that yielded more than 700,000 pages of internal documents from the Washington police department. The documents showed how MPD police used the online surveillance tools between 2014 and 2021, monitored social media activity, amassed user data and surveilled protest activity though online posts.
City documents acquired through the records request revealed that MPD employed a company called Dataminr, which is an official partner of the social media website X. Dataminr claims to use artificial intelligence to provide its clients real-time alerts about “high-impact events” by monitoring social media posts. According to the Brennan Center report, Dataminr provided MPD with 40 user licenses through a no-cost pilot project in January and February 2017. During that time, the documents showed, MPD used Dataminr software to search for terms such as “riots” and collected social media data surrounding events including Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration and the Women’s March.
Following the pilot, the documents show, MPD purchased seven annual Dataminr licenses at a cost of almost $48,000 using Homeland Security Grant Program funding. And in 2020, the police department renewed its partnership with Dataminr, this time purchasing 50 licenses. The District’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, which handled procurement of the licenses, paid about $200,000 for the 50 licenses and provided 45 of them to the District’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.
In an email dated May 29, 2020, OCTO’s then-chief data officer, Barney Krucoff, wrote that access to Dataminr “would be very handy” in the event that large-scale protests — like those in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder — were to occur in Washington, D.C.
Another vendor used by District police, called Voyager, claims it can run keyword searches on social media platforms and identify activists or “disrupters,” and then tap into their networks to glean information about their personal relationships and interests. The tool uses fake accounts to gain access to information that it uses to construct reports of users’ social media activity. That activity includes information about user posts and locations.
Ivey Dyson, counsel with the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, told StateScoop that the project was inspired by work from the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which in 2016 discovered through FOIA requests that state law enforcement agencies were monitoring social media activity. Dyson said the Brennan Center and Data for Black Lives submitted their own FOIA requests to several police departments for similar information, including in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles and New York City.
“Something that’s concerning about that is the fact that online relationships might not translate to in person relationships,” Dyson told StateScoop about Voyager’s technology. “And so while these might be accurate about online activity, it’s not really — if Voyager can do what it says it can do — online activity does not necessarily reflect real-life relationships. And so how useful that information is to law enforcement is questionable.”
Initially, MPD produced only a handful of documents, and in response, the Brennan Center and Data for Black Lives, represented pro bono by Ballard Spahr LLP, in March 2022 sued the city for the remainder of the documents, which included procurement records and emails exchanged among the department, the city’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer and several private software vendors that collect and analyze social media activity.
Dyson said the social media vendors used by the District police department, which purport to collect massive amounts of data, often do so against the social media platforms’ terms and conditions agreements. Last year, Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — sued Voyager for scraping user data with dummy accounts.
“These tools specifically are unable to understand context, and so what might be an innocent post could then get taken by law enforcement and interpreted into something that is seen as threatening. And this can result in real-life, human-police interactions,” Dyson said. “As we know, those interactions — specifically for communities of color — can be quite harmful, even deadly.”
Dyson said that to avoid chilling free speech and First Amendment-protected activities such as protesting, it’s important for law enforcement agencies to be transparent about their technology policies. That advisement is a key part of the Brennan Center’s social media use policies for law enforcement, a rubric of best practices that also takes into account the risks of automated social media monitoring software.
“I think what’s unique about Washington, D.C., is that it’s a place that hosts hundreds of protests every year,” Dyson said. “It’s a place where important decisions are being made that affect people nationwide. And so there should be strong protections in Washington, D.C., to prevent unwanted scrutiny of protected speech online.”
Neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor the Office of the Chief Technology Officer responded to requests for comment.
Editor’s note: Scoop News Group has previously consulted with Ballard Spahr’s Media and Entertainment Law practice.
Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.
The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.
According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.
Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.
A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.
Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.
The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.
Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.
Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.
Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.
The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.
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Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.
Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.
Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.
“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”
RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions
House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.
Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.
The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.
“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”
Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.
The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.
Washington Wizards (16-55, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-51, 14th in the Western Conference)
Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup with Utah after losing 16 in a row.
The Jazz have gone 13-24 in home games. Utah ranks second in the Western Conference with 16.6 fast break points per game led by Lauri Markkanen averaging 3.3.
The Wizards are 5-29 in road games. Washington is 9-10 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 15.3 turnovers per game.
The Jazz score 117.4 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 124.1 the Wizards give up. The Wizards’ 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Jazz have allowed to their opponents (49.0%).
The teams square off for the second time this season. The Jazz won the last meeting 122-112 on March 6, with Ace Bailey scoring 32 points in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.
Alex Sarr is averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks for the Wizards. Will Riley is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 3-7, averaging 116.4 points, 43.3 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.7 points per game.
Wizards: 0-10, averaging 114.3 points, 37.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 130.6 points.
INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Cody Williams: out (shoulder), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).
Wizards: Anthony Davis: out (finger), Tristan Vukcevic: day to day (back), Cam Whitmore: out for season (shoulder), Alex Sarr: day to day (toe), Tre Johnson: day to day (foot), Kyshawn George: out (elbow), D’Angelo Russell: out (not injury related), Trae Young: out (quad).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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