Schools use social media monitoring software to watch students
Snaptrends lets customers watch popular social media sites and monitor what users are saying
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.US schools have bought access to sophisticated social media monitoring tools that will let them spy on students’ use of the internet.
The Orange County school district in Florida says that it will be able to use the monitoring software to respond quickly to instances of cyberbullying, crime and suicide.
The district has bought a license for Snaptrends, software that monitors Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Snaptrends’ website claims that the software can gather information from social media in a location-aware way, helping people see what is being talked about in a specific place or looking for particular keywords.
The schools will use the tools “to proactively prevent, intervene and (watch) situations that may impact students and staff”, according to local news site Click Orlando.
School officials are aware that the monitoring could raise privacy concerns, according to reports. But they say that the tools will help protect children, as well as helping gather information for law enforcement.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments