Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson today addressed perceived threats posted on Facebook concerning election results. Following is his post on the Salina Police Department Facebook page:
We have recently been made aware of concerns that Salina citizens have regarding perceived threats being posted on Facebook commenting on opposing political party views regarding the election process and results. These concerns have been sent directly to city commissioners and to the police department via emails and Facebook messaging on our police department Facebook page. To be clear, this does not constitute making an official police report.
There does seem to be some confusion as to what constitutes a criminal offense regarding Facebook posts and what actions can be taken to address these concerns. It is my intention to address these concerns to the best of my ability. These are very troubling times our nation finds itself in and unfortunately our nation is deeply divided.
The First Amendment allows us as Americans the right to freedom of speech. Our forefathers could not have fathomed the power of social media to immediately voice one’s opinion to the world with a few strokes on a keyboard. This immense power, now at our fingertips, can and is used by many to acquire support or to diminish the value of another or the beliefs of many.
However, those that choose to post inappropriate messages on social media are not immune to civil or criminal prosecution if these posts contain messages that are determined in a court of law to be:
➢ Defamatory and/or;
➢ Threatening and/or;
➢ Indecent
It is impossible to describe exactly what constitutes defamatory, threatening or indecent messages and that is why each complaint must be reviewed on its own merit. First by law enforcement and then a careful review by the Saline County Attorney who will ultimately decide whether criminal charges are appropriate.
To be clear, your police department does not actively monitor social media sites randomly nor does it continuously monitor social media threads to determine if crimes are being perpetuated. A citizen who believes that a social media post is criminal in nature must first report the incident to their police department. By far the majority of concerns regarding social media posts involved real or perceived threats of violence.
Please understand that it is very simple for someone to gather what may feel like personal information from your posts or social media profile on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. As it is for public consumption, it is not illegal to simply “grab” or screenshot that material and repost it or share it in other formats. Only you can control what information you wish for the general public to see and it is your responsibility to lock down your social media account(s) as you see fit.
I would encourage all citizens to allow tolerance for those who may have differing views points and simply not engage. Many posts are defamatory in nature with the expressed intent to garner a response and merely not responding is often times the best course of action.
If you feel that you are a crime victim as a result of a social media post directed at you, please contact the Salina Police department at 785- 826-7210 and request a report regarding your concerns.
Chief Brad L. Nelson