Social media monitoring in the UK: the invisible surveillance tool increasingly deployed by government

"Social media is now undeniably a significant part of many of our lives, in the UK and around the world. We use it to connect with others and share information in public and private ways. Governments and companies have, of course, taken note and built fortunes or extended their power by exploiting the digital information we generate. But should the power to use the information we share online be unlimited, especially for governments who increasingly use that information to make material decisions about our lives?

At Privacy International (PI), we think the answer to that question is a resounding no. That is why we have been examining the use of social media monitoring by governments and companies. The practice is an increasingly prevalent one, and as this article explores, largely unregulated. That needs to change..."