Here's Why All Your Facebook Friends Are Checking In at Standing Rock

As thousands of protesters continue to challenge the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline that would stretch from North Dakota to Illinois, Facebook users are showing their support by virtually checking in at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where many of the protests have taken place.

The use of the Facebook tool isn't merely a symbolic move, however. The Morton County Sheriff's Department was allegedly using Facebook check-ins to locate and target protesters, although the department has denied this. A viral Facebook massage spread the idea that by having more users check in, the Standing Rock Facebook page would be overwhelmed with thousands of remote users so that the police would no longer be able to target protesters using the social media platform.

The Facebook message also recommended that users not state anything in the status field that would allow the police to use the search field and differentiate the virtual protesters from the real-life ones; it also suggested users make sure the check-in is public so that it can appear on the Standing Rock page.

It is important to note that the Morton County Sheriff's Department refuted the claims that it was using Facebook to locate protesters. The statement was shared in a Facebook post, shown below. The website Snopes.com also disproved the viral claim, whose origin is still unknown.