The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is working with Facebook to ensure that Facebook accounts set up and monitored by prison inmates are terminated swiftly.
The CDCR will report accounts in violation to the Facebook Security Department for removal. Citizens are also encouraged to report inmate accounts by calling CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights & Services at 1-877-256-6877.
"Access to social media allows inmates to circumvent our monitoring process and continue to engage in criminal activity," CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate says. "This new cooperation between law enforcement and Facebook will help protect the community and potentially avoid future victims."
The CDCR's crack down is in response to "numerous incidents" involving inmates who have used Facebook to deliver threats or sexual advances to victims from prison.
The CDCR does stipulate that an inmate is allowed to have a Facebook profile, so long as it was created prior to incarceration and not updated or accessed while the prisoner is behind bars.