Getting behind on child support payments is a growing problem. In a modern-day approach, Arizona is cracking down on deadbeats one hashtag at a time. With the governor’s blessing, the state has enacted a campaign of “Twitter-shaming” to smoke-out wanted child support evaders. The governor feels that for too long deadbeat parents have been able to remain anonymous, skirting their financial and legal responsibilities with no shame. “Not anymore”, he promises.
Already underway, a list of more than 400 parents who owe a collective $20 million will be featured in tweets with the hashtag #deadbeat. The posts feature the photos, names and money owed by moms and dads across the state on the social media platform Twitter. First up, a photo of a young dad, thousands of dollars behind on child support, featured with the tweet, “WANTED: AZ Child Support Evader…name omitted…Owes $170,993 #deadbeat.” The next tweet features the mugshot of man owing nearly $70,000.
According to state officials, ‘wanted’ posters are nothing new to the state – previously details of these so-called deadbeats could be found on the state website. However, this is the first time the state has blasted out information on Twitter and the results remain to be seen. With the social media posse unleashed, those once anonymous moms and dads behind on child support have ‘gone viral’.
Source: NY Daily News, “Operation #deadbeat: Arizona Twitter-shames child support evaders”, by Meg Wagner, January 13, 2016,
