The other day a man that had a case in court posted what he thought was a coded message of hate on Facebook, only to find himself under arrest a few days later. That story and the potential for getting in deep in ‘brown stuff’ with the law obviously didn’t filter down to James Houtstra, a 32-year-old man, of St. Albert, Canada.

According to reports, Houtstra made threats in a post against officers of the police unit called the ‘Mounties’ in St. Albert. Facebook security officers doing what they do best, reported the man to the FBI, who then passed the information over to the Mounties. The arrest was made after securing Houtstra’s wife and two children—something that would have made the situation tenser had the arresting officers moved in straight away.

Thankfully, Houtstra didn’t give too much trouble because the officers Mayerthorpe, Alberta have dealt with this scenario before—with tragic consequences. In 2005 a gunman killed 4 Mounties in that very region. At that time the threats made were not taken seriously, which is why this time round there was no hesitation. Said RCMP Const. Janice Schoepp, “I think we take every threat where someone threatens to harm someone else seriously. Before Mayerthorpe and after, we’re always very careful about matters like this.”

It is clear form this example that social media is going to be at the forefront of fighting crime, which is a good thing. Let’s just hope the so-called authorities don’t go beyond what is reasonable and practical with social media.

Do you trust Facebook? Share your thoughts below.

(Source: sitetrail.com)

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