The Associated Press he says that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state police cannot hide from the public how they monitor social media.
Naturally, civil liberties advocates applauded the decision.
The law enforcement agency argued that full disclosure of its policy on the use of software to monitor online postings could endanger public safety. Tuesday's ruling appears to end a six-year legal battle.
The head of the state police's bureau of criminal investigations argued that transparency about the policy would make its investigations less effective. The state Office of Open Records conducted a private investigation into classified material and determined that publicizing the policy could harm police investigations.
A three-judge Republican Commonwealth Court panel overturned the Office of Open Records decision, however, and ruled that the policy must be disclosed to the public. The ruling issued Tuesday said the Commonwealth Court should not accept the state police's claim that it warned of alleged public safety risks. The majority held that Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Act does not permit the Commonwealth Court to order additional verification of information not requested by the state police.
Andrew Christy, an attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said the decision “puts law enforcement on the same playing field as all other government agencies. If they have a legal reason to keep something secret, then they should provide sufficient evidence to justify it."
"Ultimately, this comes down to voters understanding what law enforcement is doing so that they can then, through their elected representatives, rein them in if they act in a way that is inconsistent with what the public wants." , Christy reported.
