Uvalde failure stalls the argument for social media surveillance

Civil liberties groups have long said such surveillance is a breach of privacy and isn't even effective. Digital surveillance technology that is currently in use is said to be insufficiently effective, with reports making this conclusion in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting.

Keeping children safe is one justification given by schools who use services that monitor students’ social media activities in search of posts or behavior that would indicate violence was afoot. Justification is needed because the way these services operate can represent a threat to privacy and free speech.

It now turns out that the Uvalde school where the tragedy occurred had in the 2019/2020 school year bought a subscription to use one such surveillance service, Social Sentinel, that monitors students’ online conversations. Reports currently cannot confirm that the tool was being used by the school at the time of the shooting, and if it was, clearly, it had failed miserably.