New BART protests could test emerging policy on cell service shutdowns
After criticism from civil libertarians and First Amendment scholars, BART says it will consider a policy of shutting down cellular service only in an 'extreme case.' But what is an extreme case?
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officers block off a portion of the train platform before closing Civic Center train station in San Francisco last week.
Jeff Chiu/AP
Los Angeles
A third consecutive Monday of protests against the Bay Area Rapid Transit system will test BART's emerging policy on how to balance public safety with free speech.
Activists have rallied against BART to protest the fatal shooting of a homeless man with a knife on July 3 by security. But the protests took a digital-age twist when BART shut off its cellular network on on Aug. 11 to prevent protesters from using their smartphones to organize.
Now, after harsh criticism from civil libertarians and First Amendment scholars, BART has suggested that it will consider a policy of shutting down its cellular service only in an "extreme case."
What, exactly, constitutes an extreme case, however, remains unclear – even among legal scholars. Many are looking to the ongoing protests tonight and into the future in hopes of seeing how BART might respond.
At a time when groups of young people from London riots to American "flash robs" are using mobile technology in disruptive – and sometimes illegal – ways, the legal issues involved in the BART situation could resonate far beyond the Bay Area.
Page 1 of 4
