Should government check social media accounts of people on disability?

Credit: Dan Kitwood

Credit: Dan Kitwood

Do you want someone snooping through your Instagram pictures or checking out your Facebook posts?

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If an injury means you're out of work, and you apply for federal disability payments, the Trump administration may want to check in on your social media accounts to see what you're posting.

But some Democrats are pushing back.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey have sent two letters demanding answers about the proposed new social media policy.

“They’re spending their money going on social media trying to catch somebody who’s on disability dancing at their daughter’s wedding,” Brown said.

In response, the senators received a letter from the Social Security commissioner saying, “We are evaluating how social media could be used by disability adjudicators in assessing the consistency and supportability of evidence in claimant’s case.”

Rachel Greszler, from the Conservative Heritage Foundation, supports the proposal.

“This is not about trolling and trying to weed everybody out. It’s more about just detecting the real fraud in the situation,” Greszler said.

The Trump administration said no final decisions about whether or how to do this have been made.

“Most people on Social Security disability want to work but they can’t work. Something has happened in their lives or the workplace, and we’re going to make their life harder?” Brown said.

The other side gave a different argument.

“You have an applicant who comes and their claim from the doctor says they cannot stand more than an hour and yet you see them posting where they just ran a marathon,” Greszler said.

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