Police Officers in Beverly Hills have been accused of playing songs by the likes of the Beatles and Sublime in hope of triggering copyright filters to prohibit videos of them being published to social media.
Activist Sennett Devermont, based in Los Angeles, claims that in videos captured from January and February of this year, police officers began playing songs on their phones including ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Santeria’ by The Beatles and Sublime respectively when approached with a camera.
Although it is unclear the true intention behind these actions, they are not isolated instances with multiple scenarios having been recorded across the past few months involving different officers. Researchers have suggested that the use of the music may provide police with grounds to utilise social media algorithms and copyright protection to remove these videos from their sites due to the music playing in the background.
Beverly Hills Police Department issued a statement claiming that officers playing music when dealing with complaints or queries is not a recommended procedure and the videos in question are ‘currently under review’.
By Ellie King, student from Southampton Solent University
