HOUSTON (AP) – Texas prison officials are cracking down on social media accounts managed for inmates by friends or relatives while the prisoners themselves have no internet access because they’re locked up.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said Thursday the agency has established a formal rule prohibiting inmates from possessing such accounts because many social media companies specifically bar people from operating an account in someone else’s name.
He says many of the companies also require corrections agencies to have a specific rule barring offenders from maintaining active social media accounts. That rule is now part of the 134-page orientation handbook delivered to each Texas inmate.
Clark says some prisoners have used social media to sell items based on their crime, harass victims or victim’s families and continue criminal activity.
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