SNOPA Stops Social Media Snooping...Somewhat

A new bill was just introduced into Congress by D-NY Eliot L. Engel, which will seek to protect the privacy of college students and jobseekers/employees during the enrollment process and throughout the duration of their education or employment. The Social Networking Online Protection Act prohibits educational institutions and employers from demanding social media passwords so that their information could be accessed, and "does not permit employers to demand such access to discipline, discriminate or deny employment to individuals, nor punish them for refusing to volunteer the information."Lions of Liberty tackled this issue where it applied to the workplace previously (that article here), citing that while employers asking new hire applicants for their social media information was a violation of privacy, whereas liberty and the free market are concerned, it's none of the government's business to be involved. That fire will put itself out, as applicants take ownership of their liberty and as the most qualified candidates refuse to work for companies that would institute such practices, driving those companies to adjust. The situation in education is different, however, as there is a smaller free market at play (that being only private universities).While we as a whole abhor almost all government intervention, this bill is a step in the right direction in some aspects because a good percentage of educational institutions are run by state or local governments, or receive government funding. Thus, that institution demanding your Facebook password if you are a student is a direct violation of the 4th Amendment.I honestly don't know the percentage of universities or educational institutions that currently require students to supply passwords - however, due to this bill's existence it must be a practice that has infiltrated the system to the point where it must be addressed. We have already seen students expelled for Tweets using profanity by schools that have social media monitoring services. There are examples of colleges forcing students to join 3rd party sites to track all of their social media activity - a service named Varsity Monitor. From what research I have been able to collect, these monitoring services only access public materials - so private or protected accounts are still safe. And that's why this bill is so important - to keep them that way.It's a frightening trend that is emerging and hopefully this bill will be the first brick in the wall between our private social media information and government organizations, educational or not, that want to gain access to it.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!