Citizens Urged to Use Social Media Responsibly

Jamaicans are being encouraged to use social media responsibly as they go about their business this festive season.

“Don’t put every bit of information on social media because you don’t know if somebody is trying to track you down. Do not put your every move [online],” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Stephanie Lindsay.

“You want to make sure that you are using social media in a manner that you are not vulnerable,” she added.

The Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Corporate Communications Unit, who was addressing a recent JIS Think Tank, noted that persons are often not aware of the risks when posting personal information on social media.

She pointed out that children are particularly vulnerable, as they are often not supervised when using the Internet.

“They are sharing information such as telephone numbers, addresses and so on [and] we have persons who are trolling social media – paedophiles – looking for children to target, pretending to be children themselves and they are adults,” she pointed out.

SSP Lindsay said there are also unscrupulous persons who are looking for and recruiting young people to be part of criminal networks.

“They are looking for those that they believe are vulnerable and susceptible to what it is that they are offering. So, we must have the conversation with our children, and even as adults we have to be less gullible when we are interacting on social media, because most of the times we are giving out information that can be detrimental to our own safety and security,” she pointed out.

Emphasising the need for persons to be careful about who they interact with on social media, she said there are criminals who steal the identities and images of ordinary citizens, celebrities, as well as people they know and trust.

“So, whenever you are interacting with persons, you are of the view that you are interacting with… somebody that is legitimate, but behind that is the dark criminal that you are not seeing,” said SSP Lindsay.

Meanwhile, Director of Communications at the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), Latoya Halstead, who also participated in the JIS Think Tank, is cautioning consumers against sharing their purchases or whereabouts on social media.

“We want to encourage our consumers, especially the ones who, when they go to restaurants, are taking pictures of the food and disseminating it; they go on a holiday, they also broadcast that on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. This is a way for criminals to know that you are not at home. They know exactly where you are, so they know exactly what to do in terms of committing crimes where your personal property is concerned, she said.