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Paper short abstract:

This paper explore the beliefs that underpin stories and debates about the police’s surveillant uses of social media. What beliefs about what the police see and do on social media are expressed, and how can these stories shed light on contemporary beliefs about online surveillance in general?

Paper long abstract:

The Norwegian police make extensive use of social media platforms. These uses are informational and communicational, but there is inevitably a strong element of surveillance connected to these platforms as they are materializations of the social sphere. In contemporary connective culture, casual talk is routinely and extensively written down, stored and accessible from almost anywhere. An offhand remark might come back to haunt you—in Norway, a recent law on hate speech means it might even lead to a home-visit from the police. This fact, however, is intertwined with different beliefs. Some warn of the dangers that what you post online will be visible forever, others claim that the haystack of online postings is getting so big the chances that your needle will ever be found are miniscule, even if you really want to find it. Some cherish that the police have greater access to written evidence, others see it as a threat to the rule of law.

This paper will explore the beliefs that underpin stories and debates from Norwegian media concerning consequences of the police’s surveillant uses of social media. It is based on material collected from Norwegian language social media accounts and edited media sources that in different ways thematise police use of social media as a surveillance tool. What beliefs about what police see and do on social media are expressed through these stories and debates? In what ways can these stories shed light on contemporary beliefs about online surveillance and the digital sphere in general?