In the South Carolina prison system, accessing Facebook is an offense on par with murder, rape, rioting, escape and hostage-taking.<\/p>\n
Back in 2012, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) made \u201cCreating and\/or Assisting With A Social Networking Site\u201d <\/em>a Level 1 offense [PDF<\/a>], a category reserved for the most violent violations of prison conduct policies. It\u2019s one of the most common Level 1 offense charges brought against inmates, many of whom, like most social network users, want to remain in contact with friends and family in the outside world and keep up on current events. Some inmates ask their families to access their online accounts for them, while many access the Internet themselves through a contraband cell phone (possession of which is yet another Level 1 offense).<\/p>\n Through a request under South Carolina\u2019s Freedom of Information Act and other public records, EFF found that, over the last three years, prison officials have brought more than 400 disciplinary cases for \u201csocial networking\u201d\u2013almost always for using Facebook. The offenses come with heavy penalties, such as years in solitary confinement and deprivation of virtually all privileges, including visitation and telephone access. In 16 cases, inmates were sentenced to more than a decade in what\u2019s called disciplinary detention, with at least one inmate receiving more than 37 years in isolation.<\/p>\n The sentences are so long because SCDC issues a separate Level 1 violation for each day<\/em> that an inmate accesses a social network. An inmate who posts five status updates over five days, would receive five separate Level 1 violations, while an inmate who posted 100 updates in one day would receive only one.<\/p>\n