Federal Government to Start “Wiretapping” Facebook

With ‘Catfish‘ (go see it!) and ‘The Social Network‘ (can’t wait!) getting plenty of box office buzz, we gotta give a nod to Facebook not just as a social phenomenon, but a pop culture one, too. Fodder for movies, for songs, for brand new vocab, it’s almost hard to imagine a time when we couldn’t shamelessly air our laundry, taunt our exes, brag about our (meaning: your) babies and promote our work.

So what’s to happen if the Federal Government demands that Facebook unlock encrypted messages so they’re wiretap enabled? Meaning all of your raunchy correspondence is game for Big Brother? According to the New York Times, such a plan is in the works.

We’ve entertained visions of what the ‘Book would be like if it had been around since the beginning of time. Never mind the obvious holes of impossibility in the theory. It’s funny. That’s all that matters. But is eavesdropping on your Facechats funny? Chances are (hopefully) good that you’re not running criminal empires using FB as your primary means of communication — but since Congress seems to believe that text messages and social network exchanges are better avenues for cracking codes than telephones and, um, fax machines, by this time next year, officials may just get their way.