Snapchat's AI flagged a private message sent to 3 people and alerted the FBI in under an hour, leading to a student teacher's arrest.

Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took for a private Snapchat message to travel from Kristen Volpe’s phone to the FBI to the deputies standing in her elementary school hallway. On January 29, 2025, the 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary in Washington, Illinois, vented to her boyfriend and two roommates — three people total — after a student closed her laptop mid-class and wiped her lesson plan. She referenced shooting the student or the school. She meant it as a frustrated joke. Snapchat’s algorithm didn’t get the humor.

No student reported her. No parent. No coworker. The flag was entirely automated. Snapchat’s policy permits voluntary emergency disclosures to law enforcement — no warrant required — when the platform determines imminent harm exists. The algorithm makes that initial call. Think of it like your Ring doorbell deciding to call 911 on its own, except the doorbell is reading your text messages.

  • Tekdeb@lemmy.zipEnglish
    63·
    9 hours ago

    I believe there are a few things you simply shouldn’t joke about. Killing children is one of those things. But yes, everybody has a fundamental right to their privacy and it’s insane that mass surveillance is becoming more and more common and way too many people seem to just accept or ignore it.

    • DudleyMason@lemmy.mlEnglish
      76·
      6 hours ago

      I believe there are a few things you simply shouldn’t joke about

      And I believe that belief makes you a dangerous idiot who’ll happily support Fascism.

      • Tekdeb@lemmy.zipEnglish
        31·
        5 hours ago

        Me thinking that joking about killing kids isn’t ok makes me a fascist? I don’t quite understand how you got to that conclusion, but ok.

        To be clear, I didn’t say people can’t say what they want to. I think that freedom of speech is incredibly important. It’s none of my business what you choose to say if I’m not involved, but I would not be comfortable joking around with such a serious topic. If you are, then more power to you I guess?

        The relevant part of my reply was about mass surveillance being bad, and I don’t think that’s a very hot take. What I think about certain dark joke topics doesn’t matter.

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        33·
        5 hours ago

        Any restriction on your freedom to say offensive shit must be fascism, right?

        Couldn’t you just fuck-off into the woods and enjoy all your freedoms alone?

        • DudleyMason@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          37 minutes ago

          Any restriction on your freedom to say offensive shit must be fascism, right?

          Not what I said. But any restriction that leads to law enforcement intervention without a person complaining damn sure is.

          Couldn’t you just fuck-off into the woods and enjoy all your freedoms alone?

          No, and fuck you for asking. If I have to share the planet with a bunch of copsucking shitbags who believe in thoughtcrime for dead baby jokes but people saying the most horrifically racist, sexist, or homophobic bullshit is just the price of free speech, you can suck it up and deal with there being people out there who can tell the difference between “popular” and “right”.

    • treadful@lemmy.zipEnglish
      14·
      5 hours ago

      I believe there are a few things you simply shouldn’t joke about. Killing children is one of those things.

      I don’t think we could be friends. Not because I have a need to make jokes about killing kids, but because I don’t want to spend the whole time worrying about how you’ll take a joke.

      • Tekdeb@lemmy.zipEnglish
        2·
        4 hours ago

        That’s fine. I think we’d get along fine if you don’t make a habit of joking about killing kids, slavery, rape or animal abuse. If you think that makes me too sensitive then I’m happy to stay away.