"Statement of Civil Rights Concerns About Monitoring of Social Media by Law Enforcement", 6 November 2019

[S]ocial media surveillance gives law enforcement agencies the ability to monitor and archive information on millions of people’s activities... [F]ew law enforcement agencies have publicly available policies showing how they use social media data on the communities they are supposed to protect... Here are six of the harmful impacts from social media surveillance that lawmakers and the public must take into account in any discussion about surveillance of social media users[:]

1. Online surveillance by law enforcement stifles First Amendment-protected activities...
2. Social Media Monitoring Disproportionately Impacts Communities of Color and Other Marginalized Communities... Even when social media surveillance is aimed at uncovering evidence of criminal activity, the disproportionate focus on communities of color puts those communities under perpetual law enforcement scrutiny without justifiable cause...
3. Police are Monitoring Social Media without the Public’s Input or Approval...
4. Suspicionless Monitoring of Individuals Threatens Privacy and Allows Invasive and Persistent Tracking...
5. Fake Accounts and Other Undercover Law Enforcement Activity Pose Particular Threats... [A]s with in-person undercover activity – using an undercover account in order to connect with someone covertly could allow access to information that would otherwise require a warrant to obtain...
6. Social Media Can Be Highly Context-Dependent, Raising the Stakes When it is Used for Criminal Justice Purposes