Thread by @awalkerinLA

Last summer LA city and county elected officials held a press conference instructing 10 million people to sign up for Citizen so it could be used as the official COVID contract tracing app

https://twitter.com/KateCagle/status/1394006576554414082

Part of the reasoning for using Citizen for contact tracing was that the app could quickly "deliver safety alerts" to the LA region.

I have yet to see any data from the city or county on how many COVID cases were reported or tracked through the app

https://twitter.com/awalkerinLA/status/1303905917814013952

Nearly a million people in LA got this notification encouraging vigilantism (from an app that was originally called Vigilante, it's not too surprising).

Meanwhile not a peep from city officials denouncing this activity or their partnership with Citizen

https://twitter.com/onthatbombshell/status/1393807583748653065

Meanwhile Citizen wiped the app of all this activity — yet a tweet referencing a "search for the arsonist" is still up on their feed

https://twitter.com/cerisecastle/status/1394018681391181824

At #PalisadesFire press conference @MayorOfLA says a person of interest is in custody and currently receiving medical treatment.

Will he address the city's partnership with Citizen and the vigilantism encouraged by the app?

@LAFDChief says a second person of interest was detained: "We did determine that the first person was not a suspect."

But the city is not going to mention... why you apprehended or detained a second person?

Mike Bonin is delivering critical safety updates amid a chorus of boos and a chant of "Recall Bonin."

Weird, I thought the wealthy white Westsiders got their kids back to school in-person, doesn't make sense why all these babies would be out here whining at this time of day.

"Our parking lot is for parking!"
"Mayor Garcetti, save Venice Beach, please help us!"
"Help us, we're scared!"

These people came here to cry about a shelter being built near them.

Nothing like disrupting an emergency briefing to demonstrate your selfishness and privilege.

Someone asks if the suspects are homeless and if this fire is connected to another in an encampment last week.

@LAFDChief says he doesn't know, and says the identity of the first suspect was "floated in the media."

Um, no, that's not how it happened

https://twitter.com/cerisecastle/status/1393797781056225280?s=21

@LAFDChief says they want tips from people but "we rely on them to not jump to conclusions."

Perhaps, then, he might say something about an app LA has partnered with which was responsible for that disinformation — and could have gotten someone killed?

https://twitter.com/katecagle/status/1394112867654193153?s=21

It's not a coincidence that the anti-shelter homeowners were at this press conference — they're the same people who were on Nextdoor and Citizen spreading these lies about who set the fire.

Their strategy is to pin more blame on their unhoused neighbors

https://twitter.com/streetwatchla/status/1394038945332154369?s=21

"The incident shows how outsourcing public functions to private companies can lead to unexpected and potentially dangerous consequences."

An excellent story by @dharnanoor that connects all the dots earther.gizmodo.com/citizen-app-se…

Well I guess that's one way for the city of LA to acknowledge how it works with Citizen 😬