Houston Council Authorizes Social Media Monitoring While Right-Wing Threat In Open View

The City of Houston and the Houston Police Department will continue using software from a company called Dataminr to monitor social media posts. 

Here is some of what the Houston Landing reported:

​The Houston Police Department will stay in the ranks of law enforcement agencies around the country using software to monitor social media for information on criminal activity following a City Council vote on Wednesday....Council members approved without debate or dissent spending $108,000 on software from Dataminr, a company that has drawn concern from civil liberties advocates while touting its ability to alert police to breaking events....Supporters say Dataminr’s products do not raise privacy concerns because they rely on publicly available posts from social media users. Critics, however, have raised alarms about agencies using Dataminr products to zero in on abortion and Black Lives Matter protesters...In other cities, however, Dataminr has drawn scrutiny from civil liberties groups who fear it could be used to single out demonstrators...or ordinary residents whose social media posts are misinterpreted....Christopher Rivera, a spokesperson for the Texas Civil Rights Project, said he was concerned the police department could use the tool to focus on protesters...The Houston Police Department did not answer a question about whether it has placed any limitations on its use of the software.

Without forgetting that Council approved this without questioning or dissent, what words and terms should Dataminr be looking for in Houston to protect public safety? 

Here are suggestions:

"I support the Republican Party."  

This could indicate a refusal to accept election results and planning for insurrection.  The political right has been identified as a likely source of violence and domestic terrorism.  

"Houston Police Officers Union"  

The police union backs election-deniers and lawless dangerous people like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. They should be monitored for extremism.  

​"Vote for Greg Abbott."  

Governor Abbott has said he would order the shooting of migrants except that he would be prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department. This is violent and dangerous.  

"I agree with Mayor Whitmire that DPS troops should be deployed to Houston." 

State of Texas ​DPS officers in Houston would enforce SB 4 & in a 2nd Trump term would implement Trump's stated intent to suspend civil liberties and launch mass migrant roundups.   

We are ten months short of potentially living in a Viktor Orban type society--beyond the fact we are already in Texas--with mass deportations that would bring police and National Guard troops into communities across Houston and Harris County. The extremism and radicalism is directly in front of us. It comes from the political right and is sitting in the legislature, the city council chamber and at the police union hall.

​It is just something that we have active right wing/white supremacist threats of violence and insurrection openly around us, and all the tax money we pay for police offers little meaningful protection. HPD gets $1.6 billion of a $6.2 billion budget.     

It is disappointing Houston City Council did not ask questions about the Dataminer contract. Civil liberties should be an important topic in this political climate. Beyond that, Councilmembers should be holding democracy town hall-type forums where they discuss the right-wing threat, voting, organizing and self-defense.

The bottom line purpose of the Houston Democracy Project is that we must act on our own behalf. We must demand elected officials and institutions act in a way that meets the gravity of the moment. We are going to have make these demands ourselves. Nobody is likely to act in a brave and imaginative way other than everyday residents of Houston/Harris County who want a future rooted in democracy & freedom.  
 
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