A year ago, former MSU student Matthew Mullen posted a threat to the anonymous app, Yik Yak. Two hours later, MSU police was knocking on his door in East Akers Hall to arrest him on charges of terrorism.
Law enforcement's role in regulating new, anonymous sites and services on college campuses have come into question.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — the dominant leaders of social media — have opened up new waves of receiving information in today's world.
Internet users' interests in going online with a mask have birthed new, anonymous apps from Whisper to Yik Yak.
While usually innocent in nature, these underground apps have in recent years become the vehicle of threats to groups large and small.
Identifying a threat
Anonymous online threats can come in many forms, ranging from cyber stalking to full-fledged bomb threats. Detective Sgt. Chris Rozman said each case is treated differently and uniquely by MSU police’s different investigative divisions, ensuring students’ safety.
“We have certain investigative tools where if there’s an immediate threat to people or property, that a lot of times we can work with the application developers or the companies that host the services,” Rozman said. “They are able to provide us with investigative leads, which can allow us to determine where those threats came from and find out who posted those threats.”
Rozman said that every app and service provider is different, but most companies recognize an emergency situation when they’re notified and will take proper action to work with police if people are in danger.
“The thing I would point out is, even services that people believe are anonymous are not always.” Rozman said.
Rozman said that while online threats seem to be on the rise, it’s only in correlation with social media’s popularity rising as well.
“We only deal with a couple cases of online threats a year,” Rozman said. “I think it goes hand in hand with the rise in students using social media. I think people are more free to speak their mind and say things they wouldn’t usually say when they’re in an online environment.”
In addition to the rise in social media use, more and more students are obtaining smart phones, which MSU police is utilizing to make students more aware of immediate threats around them.
“If (MSU police) receives or is notified about an anonymous threat that we deem to be credible, we inform them as soon as we can by using text messages,” Rozman said.
Leaving fingerprints
Every action taken online is recorded and not easily expunged, even if students believe otherwise.
Rozman said students might make threats online because they don’t understand that anonymity is not what they think it is.
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“You have a digital fingerprint when you’re doing something online,” Rozman said. “And even if you don’t think that anybody knows who you are, or that the information is secret, it’s not. We’re always able to track that initial fingerprint and look into it from that perspective.”
MSU police has a Computer Forensics Unit devoted entirely to finding and looking into online crime. Melissa Redshaw, MSU police’s Crime and Intelligence Analyst, helps monitor online threats.
She said she sees a lot of students' online activity, and believes there are multiple reasons why people post threats.
“I think it happens both ways — people post threats because they think nothing’s going to happen,” Redshaw said. “And they will also post photos of themselves, or do things that are harmful to themselves, because they think they won’t be tracked down.”
Because students don’t understand the repercussions of what they post online, Redshaw believes students feel safer than they actually are online.
“I think people are under the assumption that things are safe and that things are anonymous when they’re really not,” Redshaw said. “No one’s anonymous. Anybody can be tracked down."
An anonymous brain
The complexities of each individual's brain can determine whether or not they choose to put a threat out online for the world to see and anonymity can play a role, assistant professor of public relations and social media in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences Saleem Alhabash said. Alhabash researches the psychological effects of social media.
“The notion of anonymity is rather flawed in the day and age that we live in, but it’s the perception of being anonymous at that particular time, in that particular moment in time that really allows people to voice threats,” Alhabash said.
Alhabash said there is an evaluative mechanism in the human brain. It helps people consider the consequences of threatening others.
“Your perception of the consequences that your words might have on people might deter you from actually voicing and vocalizing these expressions,” Alhabash said.
However, when a person goes online, their perception changes to the point where internal conscience dissipates.
“When people are online and they feel anonymous,” Alhabash said. “That mechanism seems to fall apart. They feel it’s okay to do it.”
Alhabash said when people go online they view online perceptions as more important than reality.
Both law enforcement and faculty stress the notion students should be careful what they post on anonymous sites and apps, because they are not anonymous at all.
“Think before you post,” Redshaw said. “Nothing’s anonymous. Everything has repercussions, and your actions do affect others, and they affect your future too. Once something’s out there, it’s out there. Deleting it doesn’t mean it’s gone.”
Alhabash said research and other factors have helped show just how intense internet traits are for people.
“The whole idea is that there are two distinctive traits of social media and the Internet,” Alhabash said. “The first one is, there’s a limitless storage space of the Internet.”
Social media's wildfire communication can be a blessing, but in many cases a curse.
Alhabash said tons of information can be broadcasted because of the limitless storage space. What's put on social media can become viral, and exist forever. It's all searchable.
Alhabash said the complexities of the human mind and internet can be a dangerous pair.
“It’s extremely hard to control the flow of information online,” Alhabash said. “Once something gets out there ... it’s out of your hands.”
