Trends come and go. Some slide in unannounced, and leave without a whimper of protest. Others slam in with a bang and persist despite an initial reaction of “What the ….?” (See “Rap” music. Or Elvis’s “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog.”)
A growing trend around the country involving the most precious of rights is taking hold … and grabbing attention.
Some companies, and even some schools, are requiring passwords to social network accounts – Facebook and Twitter, among others – so information posted and dialogues exchanged can be scrutinized.
A 12-year-old girl in Minnesota was called to the office and “forced” to give up her Facebook account password so an administrator could see what she had written about a specific hall monitor. The girl, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the school, citing a concern that social media messaging is covered by the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution – free speech and freedom from illegal search.
The ACLU is right.
This case, and others like it, highly concerns about which private communications can be kept from those in authority.
The ACLU also recently forced the State of Maryland to stop requiring applications to provide their Facebook passwords when applying for jobs. The rationale for the requirement stemmed from the state wanting to “weed out applicants with links to gangs.”
Some universities, especially sports departments, have established guidelines to force athletes to allow coaches to view their “friends-only” Facebook accounts.
It is amazing that in this day and time that some folks in authority simply don’t understand the basic rights of Americans, specifically “freedom of speech” and “freedom from illegal search.”
Would executives of companies, governments or universities allow workers or students access to their private information?
As stated many times: Ignorance you can do something about; stupidity goes straight to the bone.
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