Livestreamed crime
Criminal acts broadcast live on social media platforms.
Livestreamed crime refers to criminal acts broadcast in real time on social media platforms such as Twitch or Facebook Live. The instantaneous nature of livestreaming makes it difficult to detect and moderate violent content, and nearly impossible to protect the privacy of victims or bystanders. This phenomenon allows any member of the public to become a distant witness to the crime.
Quick Facts
- First known case
- April 2016
- Ohio
- US
- Perpetrators in first case
- Marina Lonina
- age 18; Raymond Gates
- age 29
- Notable subculture
- Trash streaming on YouTube
Facts from the source article.
History
In April 2016, Marina Lonina, age 18, and Raymond Gates, age 29, were arrested in Ohio, US, after Gates raped an underage friend of Lonina's while Lonina livestreamed the crime on Periscope. The prosecutor noted that Lonina, who was taken advantage of by a much older man, became caught up in her excitement over the number of likes she received, and is shown on screen laughing and giggling. Joss Wright of the Oxford Internet Institute observed that given the volume of content created and uploaded daily, there is almost no practical way to prevent such content from being uploaded and shared. By May, The New York Times included the Periscope rape among a series of recent cases of livestreamed crimes, including a young woman in Égly, France, who spoke on Periscope about her distress and suicidal thoughts and was apparently encouraged by viewers to kill herself by throwing herself under a train, and two teenagers who livestreamed themselves bragging and laughing as they beat up a drunken man in a bar in Bordeaux, France.
Types
Livestreamed crime takes two major forms: cybersex trafficking and the broadcasting of war crimes. Cybersex trafficking, also known as live streaming sexual abuse, involves forcing victims—through abduction, threats, or deception—into sexual abuse or rape that is broadcast in real time. These acts occur in cybersex dens, which can be any location with an internet-connected device. Perpetrators use social media, video chat services, dating sites, apps, the dark web, and other platforms, often paying anonymously with cryptocurrencies or online payment systems. Authorities receive millions of reports each year, and officials in Cambodia have called for updated laws and police tactics to address this crime. Separately, war crimes—violations of the laws of armed conflict—are increasingly livestreamed. This rise stems from chronic underreporting of such crimes, easier access to recording and streaming technology, and the timing of events like the Arab Spring and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Perpetrators share this content mainly through social media, with notable examples including the Terrorgram phenomenon, White jihad, and the Islamic State’s Al-Hayat Media Center.
Instances
The rise of livestreaming has been accompanied by a disturbing trend: individuals broadcasting crimes in real time. In June, a bystander used Ustream to show the Akihabara massacre, drawing 2,000 viewers, while another person livestreamed the aftermath. The following month, two teenagers in West Weber, Utah, were arrested after using Periscope to film themselves stealing ice cream from a truck. In Chicago, 27-year-old Antonio Perkins was fatally shot while streaming on Facebook Live in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Later that summer, Korryn Gaines of Randallstown, Maryland, used Facebook and Instagram to livestream her resistance to arrest, leading to an armed standoff with police. She was fatally shot, and her five-year-old son was hit by stray bullets, sustaining injuries to his face and arm. In November, a man in Jackson, Michigan, used Facebook Live to broadcast himself breaking into a home and shooting a woman. That same month, two 15-year-olds, Denis and Katya from Pskov, Russia, barricaded themselves in a house in Strugi Krasnye, livestreamed on Periscope, and opened fire on police before dying by suicide. The new year began with a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, woman taping her toddler to a wall on Facebook Live; she later taunted viewers who had contacted child protective services. Days later, a torture incident in Chicago involving an 18-year-old intellectually disabled man was livestreamed by one of four attackers on Facebook, sparking widespread outrage. In Sweden, three individuals—two Afghan immigrants and one Swedish citizen—livestreamed the gang rape of a woman in Uppsala on Facebook. In April, a Los Angeles man fired at passing cars and police officers while streaming on Facebook Live. That same month, a man in Phuket livestreamed himself killing his newborn daughter on Facebook before taking his own life. In February, a Middletown, Connecticut, man drove through a hospital’s front doors and set himself on fire, all broadcast on Facebook Live; he survived with burns and was arrested. In April, a Detroit teenager accidentally shot his friend while playing with a gun on Instagram Live. Finally, in August, David Katz shot 12 people at a video game tournament, killing two, as the event’s Twitch stream captured the violence.
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