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The Intelligent, Responsible, and Humane Side of Social Media: A Case Study of a Partnership Between UP Police India and Facebook Saving Lives

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Abstract

The purpose of the case study is to demonstrate how social media and police (law enforcement) may work together in a thoughtful, ethical, and humanitarian way. By fusing human intelligence with intelligent systems, the case study contends, extraordinary accomplishments can be achieved. Additionally, it underlines the importance of the public-private partnership (PPP) model, in which the joint efforts of two parties; Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) India and Facebook, representing the public and private sectors, respectively produced incredible results. Phenomenal achievements were made possible by this relationship, and numerous suicide attempts were averted. The case study reviewed cases between March 2022 and February 2024 and found that 321 precious lives were saved due to this partnership. The case study demonstrates how Facebook’s algorithm works to spot any posts that contain language that suggests self-harm or suicide and to issue a warning in the hopes of protecting a precious life. The UP Police’s social media unit gets notified of such posts, thanks to Facebook’s random forest learning algorithms, which then take action to save a priceless life. The case sheds some insight on the privacy concerns of Facebook account holders, the use of sophisticated technology by the police authorities, and its ethical implications as well. It provides some insight into the relevance of management principles to public services.

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Source: Model Adopted from Gupta and Kumar 2021

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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. No funding was received for conducting this study. No funds, grants, or other support was received.

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Correspondence to Vibhuti Gupta.

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The case study is based on secondary data available in the public domain. The study does not include participants for the purpose of primary data collection.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. One of the authors is a Police Officer, working in the same department but at a different posting. However, all authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

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Kumar, A., Gupta, V. The Intelligent, Responsible, and Humane Side of Social Media: A Case Study of a Partnership Between UP Police India and Facebook Saving Lives. J Police Crim Psych (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-024-09667-w

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