Police responding to the recent trend of “porch pirates” have advised people that posting images of alleged thieves on social media could be a violation of privacy rights.
Since then, police have been offering more guidance on how to avoid these thieves. However, the comments of one police department in Canada went viral when a local police officer warned victims not to post images of alleged thieves on social media, particularlyTikTok.
The comments were met with mixed reactions, with some responses online saying it wasn’t fair to treat thieves in that manner.
Police slammed online over TikTok privacy comments
According toCTV News, Officer Lt. Benoit Richard advised Canadians living in Quebec that “You cannot post the images yourself because you have to remember, in Canada, we have a presumption of innocence and posting that picture could be a violation of private life.”
Thief decided to open and steal Amazon packages off@KarimCheese’s front porch while they were streamingpic.twitter.com/xV4nkanKKa
While the comments were clearly meant in good faith, that didn’t stop several social media users from criticizing the defense of alleged thieves.
“Don’t forget to also invite them in for some tea,” one reply sarcastically read. “You don’t want to have a violation towards their wellbeing. It’s cold out there.”
For more news and updates on porch package thieves,check out the time top streamer Amouranth confronted one of her thieves.
Theo was formerly a senior writer at Dexerto, covering trending news and digital culture. He’s an expert in social media trends, the rise of AI, and the influencer entertainment scene.
