On Dec. 6 a woman was assaulted in the hallway of her Patricia Street apartment. According to her account on the Jasper AB Buy, Sell and Trade Facebook page, a man snuck in the door after her, but fled after she screamed.
After her assault, the woman called the police and posted an account of what happened, with a warning for the women of Jasper to be aware.
Over the next 24 hours the post garnered significant attention, with many commenters expressing outrage at the attack, as well as support for the victim.
Others threatened violence against the attacker, and some even speculated about his identity, going as far as naming a specific individual and posting his picture under the accusations.
The post has since been removed, but the conduct of some of the commenters troubled many, including the police.
Cpl. Ryan Gardiner of the Jasper RCMP said that the buy and sell page is a useful community portal, but that people have to be very careful what they post on it. People often turn there to inform the community when they see concerning things happening in town, but Gardiner said there are proper channels to do that.
“If information is of an emergent nature and the community needs to be aware of it, that information needs to be digested by the proper people,” he said, pointing out that there is no real way for the community, or the police, to gauge the accuracy of a Facebook post.
“It would be far more effective to have the information sourced and accurate, than to have it on the buy and sell.”
When it comes to serious crimes, unfounded accusations can seriously hurt a person’s reputation, and could even lead to a civil lawsuit—especially when those accusations have no evidence to support them.
Canadian courts are still grappling with the fundamental changes brought about by the Internet. Precedents have been set for the court to take a liberal approach to Internet-based claims of defamation, but it does recognize the seriousness of how widespread information on the Internet is.
The police take criminal accusations against individuals very seriously. Gardiner pointed out that accusations lobbed over the Internet may feel frivolous, but they’re not.
“It’s a serious thing when you’re charging somebody or accusing somebody of a criminal act, that’s a serious thing—and I just don’t think that that belongs on the buy and sell,” he said.
The Jasper AB, Buy, Sell and Trade was originally started by local businessman David Miller six years ago as a place to exchange used goods, but since then, it has evolved into something much more significant.
The group currently has more than 9,000 members, and a significant portion of Jasperites frequent it daily. While many still post about buying and selling, the page has also become the de facto community forum.
People post when they have lost or found an item around town; they post asking advice about where to pick up certain things in Jasper; they post when there have been cougar sightings, or traffic accidents; and sometimes they post when a crime has been committed.
Posts calling out individuals in town have picked up significantly in the past six months. Twice a local taxi company was targeted for what some felt was the inappropriate conduct of its employees; and calls for community action were rampant on the page last October, after a raft of overnight bike thefts.
On Oct. 20, the day after the thefts, Alejandro Raurell posted to the buy and sell page saying that the thefts “deserve some kind of response.”
“I don’t know what that would look like, but if anybody is interested [in] working to protect our community ... this is a rally call,” he wrote.
Several people commented on the post: some calling for night-time citizen patrols. On a similar post about the bike thefts, another group member posted a description of a van they suspected was involved.
In an interview Dec. 15, Raurell said he made the post because it was the best way to reach the whole community. He didn’t feel like there was a strong enough response to the thefts, and he wanted to rally the community together.
He was disappointed with how some people reacted (threatening vigilante action), but stands by his decision to use the buy and sell as a forum.
He said he still believes the page is a useful and very important forum for the community, but agrees that there are serious issues with how it’s currently being used in Jasper.
“Because of the complete lack of any kind of social hierarchy or authority on Facebook, it’s just not a good environment,” he said. “It’s a place where legal matters are being brought up and the police have no control.”
Miller and his wife are the sole administrators of the page, and Miller said that he decides what stays on the page and what gets taken down.
He often removes posts and comments from the page, and said he decides based on what he feels is appropriate.
He explained that he feels that he has a “pretty good head on his shoulders,” so when he comes to a conclusion about something on the page, it’s usually a fairly reasonable conclusion.
“So that’s how I justify it to myself. People are going to argue that, but I think it’s run pretty well.”
When it comes to people accusing others of crimes, Miller said there is some information he feels is vital for the community to know, and if that’s the case he will leave it on the page. But he is still wary of false accusations.
“I want to keep stuff up there that I think will help the community. But like, if someone got attacked, that has to be out there.
“If I delete [an accusation] and it’s actually the guy and he does it again to someone, it’s like...” Miller paused, shrugging his shoulders and raising his eyebrows. “And then if I leave it and it’s not the guy and people go and [commit some] vigilante justice on him, I also have to live with that.”
He said that he is still working out exactly how to deal with those kinds of posts, and welcomes any advice on how to deal with them. He added, however, that the page remains the most widely read and accessible forum for the Jasper community—one that often serves a very important function.
While not as troubling as accusing someone of assault on the page, posts about criminal activity in town still frustrate Gardiner.
He pointed out that people with information that can assist with an investigation need to contact the police, so that information can be properly handled.
“If we’re trying to investigate somebody who may not know they’re part of an investigation, and all of a sudden somebody’s got a piece of information and they put it out on the buy and sell ... it’s not only out there for the people who may need to be warned about something, but there’s somebody we’re investigating who now knows that information. Maybe we weren’t planning on releasing that information or we were going to use that in some way.
“Now the suspect’s been alerted: he gets rid of the stolen property, he ditches the evidence, he’s given a head’s up—then we’re at a disadvantage.”
Gardiner expressed deep frustration toward witnesses who report active crimes on Facebook, without first calling the police. He pointed out that the RCMP does not monitor the page, and failing to report something directly to them could be devastating.
“Wouldn’t somebody feel terrible if they witnessed a crime in progress and all they did was pick up their phone and punch a few lines onto the buy and sell, never call the police about it, and they were the only witnesses to that event.”
If the RCMP didn’t hear about the crime in a timely manner, that could result in someone being hurt, he said.
And that is becoming a problem for the RCMP. Gardiner said people often turn to the buy and sell when they see potential illegal activity, and never call the police.
“It’s super frustrating when you read things happening in town that are criminal in nature [on Facebook], and I check my occurrence log in the morning to see what was reported overnight, and there’s nothing.”
But Gardiner said the RCMP is not going to change how it investigates crimes. There are no plans to actively monitor the buy and sell page, even if people do continue to post potentially sensitive information there.
“If somebody posts something on there, we’re going to have to deal with it. It might change the way we’re going to have to approach certain investigations—it may not.”
Trevor Nichols
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