Days after Union Square erupted in social media influencer-fueled chaos, one lesson is emerging for the nation’s largest and best-funded police department: Pay attention to more social media platforms.
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023.Days after Union Square erupted in social media influencer-fueled, one lesson is emerging for the NYPD: Pay more attention to non-traditional social media platforms.
The participants were drawn by a post earlier in the week on the social media site Twitch—with promises of free, highly coveted PlayStation 5s. The invitation came from Kai Cenat, a 21-year-old streamer and Bronx resident with more than 6 million followers. His post, on a site less familiar than Facebook, Instagram or X, the former Twitter, eluded the attention of police until the day of the event.
These are wake up calls. We really need to understand social media and the digital [world] … as real life.As crowds grew, the NYPD ramped up its response to level-four, the highest stage of mobilization, deploying several hundred officers.Should police have known about the event sooner? Police social-media monitoring tools tend to target potential mass shootings and terrorist attacks, or overtly negative language and suspect individuals or groups. But a social media influencer announcing a PS5 giveaway wouldn’t necessarily trigger any alarms. Similar events haven't caused the level of ruckus on display on Friday, the experts said.
Rachel Levinson-Waldman, managing director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security program, said she doubted the ability of social media monitoring to prevent an event such as Friday’s—especially given that Cenat didn’t appear to anticipate the forthcoming violence. She pointed to concerns about police incorrectly flagging potential threats.
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