Book Title: Computational Criminology: AI Applications in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice
Editors: Dr. Xavier Louis, Dr. Surbhi Girdhar, Ms. Aswathi Chandran Nair, Mr. Ravi Kumar, and Ms. Nandini Katare
Chapter: 19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/704/19
Author: Kiran Santhosh
Abstract
The proliferation of social media platforms has created an unprecedented publicly accessible repository of human communication, association, and location data with profound implications for criminal intelligence and investigation. Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) the systematic collection, analysis, and exploitation of social media data for law enforcement and security purposes has become a routine component of modern criminal investigation, from local crime unit casework through counterterrorism operations. This chapter examines the technical infrastructure of SOCMINT: the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, topic modelling, threat detection, and network analysis to the extraction of investigative intelligence from the unstructured text of social media posts, comments, and messages. It further examines the legal architecture governing law enforcement social media access in major jurisdictions, evaluates the privacy, bias, and chilling-effect risks of SOCMINT deployment, and articulates a framework for rights-respecting social media intelligence practice.