Forensic investigation of a social media page
Aleksandr Borisovich Smushkin · Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta · 2024
In the article, the author considers the issue of extracting criminally significant information from the content of Internet pages on social networks. In the course of the research, general scientific and special research methods were used; methods of formal and dialectical logic, the method of interpretation, etc. It is stated that social networks are widespread in the modern world and the majority of the world's population use them. The article hypothesizes on the content of a wide range of criminally significant information on social networks and on specific user pages. The potential of using social networks for law enforcement purposes is considered, and its active and passive components are stated. The use of social networks to encourage recipients to take certain actions is emphasized as an active component. The passive component consists in studying the information of the social network and further using it during the investigation. Both registration information and autobiographical information, as well as its changes, personal photographs and videos, notes, the social component of the page (friends, indication of relatives and degree of kinship, political views), life credo, etc. should be examined. It is indicated that the additional functionality of a page on social networks (primarily its media objects – marked videos, music, clips, individual photos, pictures, news and entire sites) may in itself be an offense (for example, for crimes of an extremist nature, discrediting a special military operation and the armed forces of the Russian Federation, the spread of pornography, drug propaganda, etc.). In addition, this information can contribute to the compilation of a person's psychological portrait and psycho-profile. Information related to external sources may also be found on the page. So, in some cases, according to the information published on the user's page, it is possible to conclude that a person has registered on certain sites, marketplaces, dating services, etc. The analysis identifies three main ways to study the content of a page on social networks: (1) using the account of the investigator or other persons; (2) using the account of the victim; (3) following a request to the resource administration for access to the page under study. The article discusses in detail the features of using each method. As a conclusion, it is stated that, during the study of the content of the page, two additional factors must be taken into account: (1) on their pages, users post information makes them more interesting, will cause approval or other reaction rather than actual one; (2) fake accounts created for both criminal and legitimate purposes may exist for rather long periods.