Why your Facebook friends are checking in at Standing Rock

Protesters are using a new weapon in their push to block the Dakota Access Pipeline: Facebook.

By Monday, hundreds of thousands of people had checked in at Standing Rock Indian Reservation on the social networking site.

But many of them weren’t anywhere near the location where demonstrators have been picketing the controversial $3.7 billion pipeline.

A post circulating on Facebook gave one possible explanation for the surge in activity, claiming that the mass check-ins were organized to prevent local law enforcement from tracking protesters on social media.

The sheriff’s department denied that accusation on Monday, calling it “absolutely false.”

Protest organizers could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sparring on social media

A court decision allowing construction of the oil pipeline across four states hasn’t dampened demonstrators’ furor over the project. The developer calls it an economic boon that will make the US less dependent on imported oil. But protesters – including some members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe – say it threatens the environment and will destroy Native American burial sites, prayer sites and artifacts.

The Standing Rock Sioux reservation straddles the border between North Dakota and South Dakota, and the projected path of the pipeline is near the reservation’s northeast corner.

An advocacy group that supports the pipeline has argued that the project does not cross into the tribe’s reservation. The Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now also said 100% of the affected landowners in North Dakota, where part of the tribe lives, voluntarily signed easements to allow for construction.

Authorities and demonstrators have accused each other of using aggressive tactics during the protests, which boiled over last week when authorities clashed with protesters and arrested more than 140 people.

Fireworks lit the sky at the Oceti Sakowin Camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota on December 4, 2016, after the Army Corps of Engineers halted the Dakota Access Pipeline route. An executive order by President Donald Trump in January allowed work to resume.

Activists embrace after the December halt of the Dakota Access Pipeline route. The $3.7 billion project that would cross four states and change the landscape of the US crude oil supply. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe says the pipeline would affect its drinking-water supply and destroy its sacred sites.

An activist rides down from a ridge on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 4.

Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp on December 4. An executive order by President Donald Trump in January allows work to resume on the Dakota Access Pipeline, which the activists oppose.

Dan Nanamkin of the Colville Nez Perce tribe drums a traditional song by the Cannonball River in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on Thursday, December 1.

A procession makes its way down to the Cannonball River to take part in a Native American water ceremony on December 1.

Snow covers the camp on Wednesday, November 30.

A person walks through snow and wind on Tuesday, November 29.

People against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline speak at a news conference near Cannon Ball on Saturday, November 26.

A sculpture stands at an encampment where protesters of the pipeline have been gathered for months.

People protest along Highway 1806 as they walk past a sprawling encampment on Thursday, November 24.

A man stands along Highway 1806 on November 24.

In this image provided by the Morton County Sheriff's Department, law enforcement and protesters clash near the pipeline site on Sunday, November 20.

Tonya Stands recovers after being pepper-sprayed by police on Wednesday, November 2. Stands was pepper-sprayed after swimming across a creek with other protesters hoping to build a new camp to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Dozens of protesters wade in cold creek waters as they confront local police on November 2.

Tribe members make their way back to their camp on Saturday, October 29.

Cousins Jessica and Michelle Decoteau take part in a protest outside the North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck on October 29.

The burned hulks of heavy trucks sit on Highway 1806 on Friday, October 28, near a spot where Dakota Access Pipeline protesters were evicted a day earlier.

Pipeline protesters sit in a prayer circle as a line of law enforcement officers make their way across the camp to relocate the protesters a few miles south on Thursday, October 27. Protesters had camped on private property.

A protester is arrested as law enforcement surrounds the camp on October 27.

Tires burn as armed soldiers and law enforcement officers stand in formation to force Dakota Access Pipeline protesters off the private land in Morton County.

A protester shows where he was hit by a bean-bag round fired by officers trying to force protesters off the private land.

JR American Horse leads a march to the pipeline site on Friday, September 9.

Native Americans head to a rally at the state capitol in Denver on Thursday, September 8. They were showing their support for members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota opposting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

People hang a sign near what they say was sacred burial ground disturbed by bulldozers in Cannon Ball.

Marlo Langdeau of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe joins hundreds of Native Americans for a march near Cannon Ball on Sunday, September 4.

Protesters march on September 4 in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Native Americans march to the site of a sacred burial ground on September 4.

Native Americans ride with raised fists to the sacred burial ground on September 4 to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Missouri River is seen beyond an encampment near Cannon Ball, where hundreds of people gathered to join the protest on September 4.

Flags of Native American tribes from across the United States and Canada line the entrance to a protest encampment on Saturday, September 3.

Phil Little Thunder Sr. attends an evening gathering at an encampment of Dakota Access Pipeline protesters on September 3.

North Dakota pipeline protests

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And both sides have used social media to make their case.

Showing solidarity

By Monday afternoon, more than 600,000 people had checked in at Standing Rock, according to Facebook.

Some shared messages expressing solidarity with the protesters.

Others copied and pasted a post criticizing “corporate enterprises that have deceived this country and stolen our freedom in exchange of profits and materialistic want.”

Not all the Standing Rock Sioux are protesting

CNN’s Holly Yan and Selena Larson contributed to this report.