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Gangs on Social Media

When posting to any social media platform, it might help to think of all of it as potentially public. Remember that anyone can take a screenshot or copy and pass on your post without your knowledge.

Is there anything you can’t find online? Apparently not.

In recent years, social media has faced scrutiny for live streaming of violent crimes, the tolerance of cyberbullying, and distribution of terrorist propaganda and recruitment. Now research suggests that gang members are also employing social media. Gang affiliates, typically adolescents and young adults, are now using their online presence to promote their gang identity and gain notoriety, in a phenomenon called “cyberbanging”.

Based on a keyword search of over 50 street gang names, the three main social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace) were monitored for street gang presence. Results show that criminal gangs are not proactively using the Internet to convert anyone into being gang members. Instead, social networking sites are creating a new venue for people who share or are sensitive to the values underlying street gang lifestyle to come together. These sites essentially create a new meeting space for gang members to interact with a wider number of people who would probably never have been exposed to their lifestyles and exploits through physical interactions.

Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592318.2013.740232

Dr Simon Harding, a senior lecturer in criminology at Middlesex University, said: “We started noticing gangs using social media four years ago and since then [the numbers using it] have doubled every year … it’s hard to quantify that because there are no statistics or research, but every street gang I am familiar with now has an online presence,” he said.

Harding noted that a lot of gangs had websites and fan followings online. He expressed concern about young people being inadvertently drawn into violent activities after making contact with gangs over social media. Harding said gangs used social media differently depending on their aims but popular platforms included YouTube and Snapchat.

A survey of 137 adolescent gang members found that 74% reported using the internet to show or gain respect for their gang. For older, more established gangs, the Internet does not appear to be a tool that they use to further the interests of their group by recruiting members or promoting activities. Instead they use it to demonstrate and solidify gang status by watching videos of gang fights or posting taunts against competing gangs.

So what can we do?

One solution to the problem is education, according to Harding. He believes schools need to be made more aware of what is going on, so young people can be educated about gang websites. This is important to make sure they are not groomed for recruitment.

Criminology lecturer and youth worker, Craig Pinkney, said: “In terms of policy makers it’s about linking with the
police and having an understanding, not just blaming young people. We can’t just say they are becoming more violent on social media, ignoring the situations they face now – high unemployment, lack of opportunities and poor education. Youth violence and the number of people are becoming more extreme. If we just focus on gangs we miss out on a whole section of young people that are increasingly becoming more violent.”

“The government should consider funding programs that educate youth workers in social media because the scope has changed,” Pinkney told the Guardian. “If there is a fight outside school now, for example, the chances are that social media has been involved and we help professionals understand that,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, blamed social media for playing a part in youth violence. She told the Times that social media sites “rev people up” and trivial disputes could escalate into violence “within minutes” when rivals set out to goad each other on the internet. He shows clips of young people taunting each other through music videos and in social media posts and offers advice to youth workers about how they can protect young people from this.

“We are also currently developing a new serious violence strategy for early 2018 that is likely to set out further action for tackling gang-related violence”, Dick commented.

Operation Domain is an ongoing Metropolitan police project aimed at collating all the gang-related content from social media and working with Google to remove relevant videos and materials from YouTube.

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Corporate Use of Open Source Intelligence

Corporate responsibility and risk management for any corporation goes well beyond what happens within the walls of everyday business. A very overlooked practice for companies of all sizes is digital research on their unique business and industry. With the rise of user generated content and social media, reputation management takes on an entirely new level in 2018. In comes OSINT, or, Open Source Intelligence (the collection and analysis of publicly available data in an intelligence context).

Frank Figliuzzi, Chief Operating Officer of ETS Risk Management, Inc., which consults with global clients on intelligence analysis, insider threat, and investigations puts it this way:

“Increasingly, security leaders systematically incorporate OSINT analysis from proven experts not only to get results, but because it is has become the new professional standard in the industry.”

Of course with the EU Privacy law in effect, hiring an expert in this area is key to be sure your firm is in compliance. With the digital universe doubling in size every two years, the time is now to be sure your business has a plan in place. Archiving and preserving your own online data may be beneficial down the road as well. Lawsuits pop up all the time, and having this data collection secured may help your case. In fact, many corporate attorneys are now insisting on this type of data capture for their clients.

Pew Research updated the stats on the U.S. consumption of social media sites online or on their cellphone.

Social Media Helps Solve Cases

Do criminals want social media likes so badly that they will incriminate themselves? Apparently so.

Last week a cocaine dealer’s student girlfriend helped police bust a major drug ring by bragging about her luxury lifestyle on Instagram. Emily Lock, 22, of Llanbradach, Caerphilly, earned less than $10,000 as a checkout worker at Lidl, but openly flashed designer clothes, shoes and extravagant holidays. Along with her dealer boyfriend Mark Price, 27, they spent over $100,000 on foreign travel and high end goods. So that has authorities wondering where did they get that kind of cash? Drugs maybe?

Lock and Price, who claimed to be a struggling builder, repeatedly purchased Vivienne Westwood handbags, Gucci sunglasses, Christian Louboutin shoes and Christian Dior perfume. She ended up being jailed for 15 months and landed her boyfriend behind bars for seven years.

Check out these other not-so-bright crooks who incriminated themselves with their posts.

1) Conor Murphy, 19, posted a picture of himself on Facebook eating a ‘Cash Sandwich’. The pictures would eventually lead police to connect him to an eight-man gang who stole a fleet of expensive, high-performance cars from some of London’s wealthiest residents. They stole BMWs, Range Rovers, Porsches and a $100,000 Mercedes – as well as jewelry, phones and laptops in 15 separate burglaries. Detectives finally caught them after one of the gang members posted a picture of himself on Facebook sitting on the hood of a stolen black Range Rover.

2) Leon Roberts, 38, and Jade Muzoka, 27, claimed damages after their weeks’ vacation in Turkey. The couple alleged they both suffered from food poisoning and tried to collect around $3,000 compensation. But just days after returning home the bodybuilders uploaded 79 photos on social media bragging about their trip, including pictures of them guzzling drinks and dining on steak, lobster and sushi.

In a doctor’s note they claimed to have been bedridden with vomiting and diarrhea, but their pictures proved otherwise. Luckily, the images they posted saved the resort from having to pay over $2,500 in alleged damages. They were busted and given a 26-week jail sentence and ordered to serve 200 hours community service.

3) Drug dealer Junior Francis, 33, boasted about his extravagant lifestyle on social media before being caught with $7,000 cash and $75,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin during a home raid. Francis posted pictures online of him posing with wads of cash pressed like a telephone to the side of his face. In an Instagram post he quoted rapper Notorious BIG, writing ‘everything I got I work hard for it’ under a picture showing thousands of pounds in cash on a kitchen top. Smart, right?

He initially denied any involvement in drug dealing during an interview after the home raid but when police checked his mobile phone, they found evidence of transactions with street level dealers in south London. Francis was jailed for six years and eight months after admitting possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and money laundering.

4) The mysterious murder case of a Canadian girl was solved after police found clues in the Facebook selfie posted by her friend. Brittney Gargol, 18, was found dead near a landfill in March 2015 and an autopsy later revealed that she died of strangulation. Gargol’s friend Cheyenne Antoine, 21, plead guilty to manslaughter after they found a Facebook selfie showing her wearing the belt used to strangle her friend. The wide blue woven belt with a large buckle was found on a roadside next to Gargol’s body, and Antoine was seen wearing the same belt in a photo posted to her Facebook account just hours before the killing, according to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.

Investigators got suspicious of Antoine when she initially told them about spending time with the victim the night she died, but left her friend to visit her uncle. That statement was later proven false. Antoine then told investigators that she and Gargol partied with two men, who allegedly strangled the victim and put a gun to her head to help them. The second statement was also proven false.

“It’s quite remarkable how the police developed this information,” prosecutor Robin Ritter said in court adding that Antoine poses a threat to public safety. She “has issues … and because of those issues, she is dangerous.” At her court appearance Monday, Antoine’s lawyer, Lisa Watson, said her client suffered through sexual, emotional and physical abuse as she grew up in foster care. “My client had some very deep-seeded personal issues that she was not dealing with and unfortunately, for whatever reason, we’ll never know, they turned into a very tragic situation for all involved,” Watson said.

Workplace Harassment and Social Media

For decades, instances of sexual harassment have been brushed under the rug and business have only reacted when it’s “really bad” or “high profile.” But a staggering 1 in 5 Americans reports being sexually harassed at work and 75% of those who report their abuser experienced retaliation for speaking up.

Thanks to social media and the #MeToo movement, as well as the general movement to become better human beings, sexual harassment is no longer being tolerated.

So what can business owners and human resources managers do to make work a better place?

The first step is for business owners to educate themselves about sexual harassment, including the basics of harassment, discrimination, retaliation and workplace bullying. All managers should know their responsibilities and liability, as well as their duty to prevent harassment and abuse. It’s up to owners to lead the way in the workplace’s professional and respectful behavior. You should know how to receive and respond to a complaint and be familiar with confidentiality guidelines and the rights of all people involved.
Business owners must implement workplace strategies to prevent occurrences of harassment. Establish boundaries and policies regarding harassment and make sure all new and existing employees are trained in those areas and are taught how to file a complaint.
Business owners must enforce the company’s policies and practices. Offenders must be disciplined according to the severity of their behavior. Penalties could include one-on-one sensitivity training, suspension with or without pay, or possible termination. When policies and procedures are enforced, it demonstrates a no tolerance stance to employees and will further discourage workplace harassment.

Don’t ignore your employees when they say they’re being harassed. It can be isolating, humiliating, and stressful for an employee to come forward about an abuser, particularly if that person has corporate power over them or is well-liked by peers.
Last, look for indicators of abusive behavior before hiring. You’re probably asking yourself how can you possibly spot a harasser before hiring them? Check social media! This is a far better method than standard or criminal background checks used widely in business today. Social media screening can identify potential harassers by flagging material that willingly and publicly disparages women or minorities online, or that blatantly promotes sex or violence.
Sexual harassment is a complex issue and as difficult as it may be, the effort to prevent workplace harassment matters. Aside from the distress caused by workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation, the behavior is illegal. Anyone that commits these acts is a tremendous liability. Addressing harassment proactively instead of reactively avoids personal, business and legal problems.

It’s also important to provide resources for anyone experiencing abuse, and make sure your HR team knows what to do when harassment is reported. If an employee does not feel safe reporting the problem, they probably won’t, and this means the problem will only grow as an attacker feels trapped by silence. That spells disaster for employee morale as well as for your business’s reputation if you’re caught with a harassment scandal you did nothing to prevent.