The immediate aftermath of an extreme act – terrorism, for example, or a mass shooting – often includes widespread scrutiny of a perpetrator’s social media pages. Although this can sometimes provide context or clues to motive, it may just as easily fuel conspiracy theories, encourage copycats, or even misidentify a suspect.

It’s no surprise, then, that the social media records of people accused of such acts will often be taken down or even deleted entirely . The power of social media companies to act was demonstrated after the recent attack at the …