Skip to main content

South Carolina inmates get combined 20 years in solitary confinement after posting a music video online

South Carolina inmates get combined 20 years in solitary confinement after posting a music video online

Share this story

BuzzFeed reports that a group of inmates in South Carolina were given a combined 20 years in solitary confinement for making a music video and posting it online.

The revelation comes from documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which received disciplinary reports through public records requests. The records show that the South Carolina Department of Corrections discovered the video, filmed in prison, after it was posted to WorldStarHipHop.com. BuzzFeed reports that seven inmates were punished for the infractions, which included creating or assisting "with a social media site" and using a contraband phone. In total, the punishments led to a combined 19.75 years in solitary confinement.

It's not the first time prisons have come under criticism for doling out severe punishments for clandestine internet use — nor is it the first time the SCDC has specifically been criticized. In February, the EFF showed thousands of inmates in the system had been sent to solitary confinement for using Facebook.