Massachusetts Court to Determine the Legality of Snapchat Surveillance
Published on June 17, 2024
This week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) reviewed a lower court’s dismissal of gun-related indictments against Richard Dilworth, Jr., related to the state’s refusal to disclose the bitmojis and usernames it used to conduct online surveillance through Snapchat accounts in 2017 and 2018.
Police arrested Dilworth for possession of a loaded revolver after Boston police saw eight Snapchat videos in which Dilworth appeared to be holding a gun. Dilworth was also arrested again after the initial arrest, and again while in possession of a firearm, again after police saw him holding a gun on Snapchat.