First Amendment Auditors on TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube

What are First Amendment Auditors?

First Amendment Auditors are individuals who film and publish interactions with public officials in the United States.

Officially, an auditor is someone who is responsible for evaluating the validity and reliability of a company or organization's financial records. In the United States (US), First Amendment Auditors are members of the public who film interactions with public officials, especially police officers, in order to "audit" their ability to deal correctly with members of the public.

These self-proclaimed auditors claim they aim to highlight that photography in public places is not a crime, as it is allowed by the first amendment to the US constitution. Auditors insist that their activities contribute to the public's ability to hold officials accountable.

The first amendment protects five fundamental rights.

Many self-proclaimed auditors now have huge numbers of online followers on social media channels such as YouTube and TikTok. Many videos published by auditors raise serious concerns about the behavior of public officials (e.g., those posted on the YouTube channel Audit The Audit). However, many others involve confrontations that are deliberately provoked by the auditor, who is often a person who holds a grudge against the police and is only filming in order to gain online followers or undermine public confidence in law enforcement.

In some cases, auditors have entered public buildings while openly carrying firearms, leading to accusations that they are seeking to intimidate public officials.

Activist groups working to expose police corruption and violence have expressed concerns about the actions of some auditors, claiming their confrontational attitude promotes public sympathy for the police and their filming of police stations puts at risk victims of crime who are reporting an incident and witnesses who are there to give evidence.

Auditing has spread to a number of other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) (where they are known simply as "auditors").

Example of First Amendment Auditors Used in a Text