Live-streamed crime is a phenomenon in which people publicly livestream, (upload video and/or audio in real time) criminal acts on social media platforms such as Twitch or Facebook Live.
Due to the fact that live streams are accessible instantaneously, it is difficult to quickly detect and moderate violent content, and almost impossible to protect the privacy of victims or bystanders.[1][2][3][4] Live-streaming crime allows anyone from the public to become a distant witness.[5]
In April 2016, Marina Lonina, age 18; and Raymond Gates, age 29, were arrested in Ohio, US on charges that Gates raped an underage friend of Lonina's while Lonina live streamed the crime on Periscope.[6][7] The prosecutor pointed out that Lonina, who was taken advantage of by a much older man, had become "caught up" in her excitement over the number of "likes" she was getting, and is shown on screen "laughing and giggling".[6] Joss Wright of the Oxford Internet Institute pointed out that, given the "volume of content being created and uploaded every day, [there] is almost no practical way to prevent content like this being uploaded and shared".[7]
By May, The New York Times was including the Ohio Periscope rape as one of a series of recent cases in which crimes were live streamed. These included one in which a young woman in Égly, France, speaks via Periscope about her distress and suicidal thoughts and is apparently encouraged by viewers to kill herself, which she does by throwing herself under a train. Also included was the case of two teenagers who live stream themselves bragging and laughing as they beat up a drunken man in a bar in Bordeaux, France.[8]
In the wake of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war[9] the Hamas has threatened to live stream hostage executions.[10]
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Main article: Cybersex trafficking |
Cybersex trafficking, also referred to as live streaming sexual abuse,[11][12][13] involves sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual abuse and or rape on webcam.[14][15][16] Victims are abducted, threatened, or deceived and transferred to "cybersex dens".[17][18][19] The dens can be in any location where the cybersex traffickers have a computer, tablet, or phone with Internet connection.[15] Perpetrators use social media networks, videoconferences, pornographic video sharing websites, dating pages, online chat rooms, apps, dark web sites,[20] and other platforms.[21] They use online payment systems[20][22][23] and cryptocurrencies to hide their identities.[24] Millions of reports of its occurrence are sent to authorities annually.[25] New laws and police procedures are needed to combat this type of cybercrime.[26]
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Main article: War crime |
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Main article: Cyberterrorism |
A war crime is the act of breaking the laws of war, and in recent years, there have been more instances of people or groups live-streaming such acts to instill fear into the public. Some groups create websites or use the dark web to host these live streams.[citation needed][examples needed] Many times, the videos are of hostages or prisoners of war that are used as leverage or as a means of exerting fear and control.[examples needed]