Pagefreezer and ACEDS Releases E-Discovery Report on Dynamic, Cloud-Based ESI

The popularity of online channels—such as company websites, social media accounts, collaboration platforms, and messaging apps—grew steadily throughout the 2010s. But with the arrival of the COVID pandemic at the start of 2020, these online data sources became crucial to the day-to-day operation of countless organizations.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests, many city and state government offices have seen a surge in open records requests. In some instances, the number of requests has doubled, and backlogged FOIA cases jumped nearly 18% in 2020 from 2019.

Emergency management, incident response, election details, program announcements, updates to transportation routes, event promotions, funding decisions, and town hall management. These are just some of the many areas of responsibility that public information officers (PIOs) can be expected to manage. No matter the government agency they work for, PIOs are essential in fostering trust between communities and the government on a federal, state, and local level.

Amidst an ever-increasing amount of misinformation, internet trolls, and open records requests, social media archiving has become an imperative for public entities and businesses.

The internet has become a breeding ground for misinformation and disinformation. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans' exposure to––and belief in––misinformation differs by the specific news outlets and the general pathways they rely on. More specifically, people who rely on social media are more prone to consuming misinformation and disinformation. 

Social media archiving is necessary for police and fire departments to comply with open record laws. It can also help facilitate crisis communication and foster organizational trust within the community.

Law enforcement agencies rely heavily on social media platforms for their public messaging.

As more of our personal and professional lives play out online and within digital spaces, it’s unsurprising to learn that an increasing amount of electronic evidence is being presented to the courts in relation to a wide number of legal cases. In fact, the worldwide Digital Forensics industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% between 2020 to 2027.

Building trust with the general public is important for government agencies, and it is no easy task. Public information officers (PIOs) need to stay vigilant and ahead of the curve when it comes to social media use.

WebPreserver now supports collections of TikTok! Starting today, all WebPreserver users have access to similar features and capabilities that we offer for evidence collection on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This is a standard function available to all customers, who will now be able to: