Experts call for moderation in the provision of digital information so as not to provoke cases of misidentification
MADRID, 16 (EUROPA PRESS)
The FBI already has in its possession 140,000 photographs and videos of the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, in a raid that resulted in five deaths and, so far, more than a hundred arrests, mostly thanks to the digital identification of the members of the mob.
According to court documents, more than 275 suspects have already been identified as investigators, academics and citizens have responded to the call on FBI networks to provide as much information as possible to capture those responsible.
“We’re not leaving a stone unturned,” said Steven D’Antuono, deputy director of the FBI’s Washington office, “and we want even more.”
The FBI has opened a portal to accept any kind of information to corroborate with facial recognition software and an application of a location data trace left by the rioters ’cell phones, given that in the United States United, service providers are required to deliver information in response to registration orders.
DANGER OF CONFUSION
But while the digital network has proven useful for law enforcement, this form of identification also carries risks for the many volunteer civilian “detectives,” who are re-posting screenshots of what they say are , are violators of the law.
Misidentifying someone as a rioter, or even correctly identifying someone who was at the Capitol but did not participate in criminal acts, can be an act of defamation, which could lead to fines, lawsuits and costly agreements.
“Anyone who thinks ‘Oh, I know this person’ just needs to call the authorities. It’s safer, legally and physically,” said Sandy Davidson, a First Amendment law expert and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “This person has fulfilled his or her civic obligation without risking legal harm and without unfairly damaging the reputation of another individual,” he adds.
Other experts warn against widespread surveillance of people who may have been at the Capitol simply to join a legal political demonstration, the one previously convened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In any case, “nothing prohibits people from the public from sharing information with law enforcement,” added Greg Nojeim, director of the Freedom, Security and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. .
However, “security forces must be careful to ensure that the information they receive is useful for investigating the crime, rather than investigating the activity of freedom of expression,” he said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, authorities continue to methodically examine the digital footprint left by the peat. The documents talk about clues left in the images, and conversations with all co-workers and acquaintances that led authorities to the suspects after seeing their images in news reports or on social media.
The acting federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, has indicated in this regard that there are “thousands of potential witnesses” that could lead to “hundreds of criminal cases” in an investigation that will extend for months with a wide variety of agencies involved, including the FBI’s 56 field offices across the country.