Livestreamed crime is a phenomenon in which people publicly livestream criminal acts on social media platforms such as Twitch or Facebook Live.
Due to the fact that livestreams 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] Livestreaming crime allows anyone from the public to become a distant witness.[5]
"Trash streaming" is where streamers get paid to commit and broadcast their crimes and exists as a subculture to this activity.[6]
History
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.[7][8] 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".[7] 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".[8]
By May, The New York Times was including the 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.[9]
Types
Cybersex trafficking
Cybersex trafficking, also referred to as live streaming sexual abuse,[10][11][12] involves sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual abuse and or rape on webcam.[13][14][15] Victims are abducted, threatened, or deceived and transferred to "cybersex dens".[16][17][18] The dens can be in any location where the cybersex traffickers have a computer, tablet, or phone with Internet connection.[14] Perpetrators use social media networks, videoconferences, pornographic video sharing websites, dating pages, online chat rooms, apps, dark web sites,[19] and other platforms.[20] They use online payment systems[19][21][22] and cryptocurrencies to hide their identities.[23] Millions of reports of its occurrence are sent to authorities annually.[24] New laws and police procedures are needed to combat this type of cybercrime.[25]
War crimes and 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]
Instances
2008
- 8 June: A bystander livestreamed the Akihabara massacre on Ustream, attracting an audience of 2,000 viewers. Another user also used Ustream to livestream the massacre's aftermath, including police and public response.[26]
2015
- 12 July: Two West Weber, Utah teenagers were arrested after filming themselves stealing ice cream from a truck while livestreaming on Periscope.[27]
2016
- 14 June: 27-year-old Antonio Perkins was fatally shot while streaming on Facebook Live in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.[28]
- 1 August: Korryn Gaines of Randallstown, Maryland livestreamed her actions on Facebook and Instagram as she resisted arrest and started an armed standoff with the police, which ended with Gaines being fatally shot and her 5-year-old son sustaining injuries to his face and arm after being hit by stray bullets.[29][30]
- November: A Jackson, Michigan man livestreamed breaking into a home and shooting a woman on Facebook Live.[31]
2017
- 1 January: A Reynoldsburg, Ohio woman livestreamed herself taping her toddler to a wall on Facebook Live. She later uploaded a video taunting viewers who had called child protective services on her.[32]
- 3 January: A torture incident in Chicago, in which an 18-year-old mentally-disabled white male was filmed being physically and verbally abused by four black individuals (two men and two women), was livestreamed by one of the women on Facebook and sparked massive controversy.[33]
- 21 January: In Uppsala, Sweden, two Afghan immigrants and one Swedish citizen livestreamed the gang rape of a woman on Facebook.[34]
- 10 April: A Los Angeles man shot at passing cars and police officers while livestreaming on Facebook Live.[35]
- 24 April: A Phuket man livestreamed himself killing his newborn daughter on Facebook. He soon after committed suicide.[36]
2018
- 22 February: A Middletown, Connecticut man livestreamed himself on Facebook Live as he drove through the front doors of a hospital, before setting himself on fire. The man was treated for burn injuries and arrested.[37]
- 4 April: A Detroit teenager accidentally shot their friend while playing with a gun on Instagram Live.[38]
- 26 August: David Katz shot 12 people during a video game tournament, killing two. The shooting was livestreamed by the event's Twitch stream.[39]
2019
- 15 March: Two mass shootings occurred at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand,[40] where 51 people were killed and 40 were injured by 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant from Australia. The first attack was livestreamed by the shooter on Facebook Live for 17 minutes, and was described by the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern "to be one of the darkest days in New Zealand history".[41] Following the shootings, Facebook announced restrictions on Facebook Live on those who posted violent extremist material.[42]
- 22 March: Vlad Cristian Eremia, 26, stabbed a 77-year-old Catholic priest, Father Claude Grou, in Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was captured on a livestream by Salt + Light Television.[43]
- 9 October: Stephan Balliet committed a shooting near a synagogue and kebab restaurant in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, resulting in two dead and two others injured; the attack was livestreamed on Twitch.[44]
- 29 December: Keith Thomas Kinnunen opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, US fatally shooting two people before he was shot and killed by an armed member of the congregation. The shooting was livestreamed on YouTube because the church livestreamed its services.[45]
2020
- 8 February: Thai Army Sergeant Jakrapanth Thomma killed 30 and wounded 57 people in a mass shooting in Thailand. A portion of the shooting at the Terminal 21 Korat mall was livestreamed by the perpetrator on Facebook Live.[46][47][48]
- 20 May: Armando "Junior" Hernandez, a 20-year-old livestreamed his attack at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona, US where three people were wounded, on Snapchat.[49]
- 26 May: A man in Stamford, Connecticut livestreamed himself on Instagram on a highway overpass saying he thought people were following him. He then began to fire on passing vehicles on the road below.[50]
- July: A Tallahassee, Florida teen was murdered while livestreaming on Instagram in a church parking lot.[51]
- 8 November: A Las Vegas man killed his girlfriend at her home while live on Facebook. Shortly before the livestream, the man also killed the woman's grandfather.[52]
2021
- 6 January: Far-right personality Anthime Gionet, better known as "Baked Alaska", took part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol and livestreamed the event on DLive.[53][54]
- 22 March: Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, age 21, shot and killed 10 people in a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, US. A portion of the shooting at a King Soopers supermarket was livestreamed on YouTube by a bystander.[55]
- 10 April: A Singapore student abroad in London was attacked with a knife during a robbery streamed by a bystander on YouTube.[56]
- 29 April: A Prichard, Alabama man livestreamed himself abusing his wife on Facebook Live.[57]
- 7 June: A Rochester, New York woman threatened to shoot a man and a woman over the course of 4 livestreams done on Facebook Live.[58]
- 19 August: 15-year-old Hugo Jackson livestreamed himself via Twitch stabbing a faculty member at his secondary school in Eslöv, Sweden. The attacker used a head-mounted camera on a helmet to livestream the attack and wore body armour similar to Brenton Tarrant, whom he had quoted in his manifesto.[59][60][61]
- 20 August: 19-year-old Aidan Ingalls shot a man to death and critically injured his wife on the South Haven Pier before turning the gun on himself halfway down. The entire shooting lasted around a minute and was captured on WWMT's beach camera, which was being livestreamed on YouTube.
2022
- 15 January: Malik Faisal Akram took multiple people hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, a Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, United States. A portion of the hostage-taking was livestreamed on the synagogue's Facebook account.[62]
- 18 April: A Baton Rouge, Louisiana man fatally stabbed a woman while she was on Facebook Live.[63]
- 14 May: Payton S. Gendron killed 10 people and injured 3 others while livestreaming the shooting on Twitch, inside and in the parking lot of the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, US. 11 of the 13 people shot were black.[64]
- 15 June: A West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana reserve deputy filmed himself on Facebook firing at a fleeing vehicle as he and a full-time deputy investigated a vehicle theft. The reserve deputy was fired and later charged with illegal discharge of a weapon.[65]
- 28 June: An Ypsilanti, Michigan man was shot and killed on Facebook Live due to a purported argument.[66]
- 24 July: Brooklyn-based pastor Lamor Whitehead and his wife were robbed of more than $1,000,000 worth of jewelry during a livestreamed church service.[67]
- 7 September: During a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, Ezekiel Kelly, a 19-year-old man, livestreamed himself on Facebook Live entering an AutoZone store and critically wounding an employee.[68]
- 22 December: A Handsworth, West Midlands man stabbed three people, killing one, in a "drink and drug-fuelled rampage" on Facebook Live.[69]
2023
- 25 March: A Columbus, Mississippi woman fatally shot a man in a domestic violence incident on Facebook Live.[70]
- 10 April: 25-year-old Connor James Sturgeon livestreamed on Instagram as he opened fire at a bank he previously worked at in Louisville, Kentucky, killing 5 and wounding 8 before being fatally shot by police.[71]
- 25 April: 2 women in Holmes County, Mississippi were fatally shot on Facebook Live after a fight.[72]
- 27 April: A Minneapolis man barricaded himself for several hours in a standoff with the FBI before being fatally shot, all while livestreaming on Facebook Live. [73]
- 23 May: 2 men were attacked with a knife while livestreaming on Douyin in Xiamen, China.[74]
- 7 June: A Shreveport, Louisiana woman "fired wildly" during an argument on a Facebook Live broadcast.[75]
- 16 June: A Doda, Jammu and Kashmir man murdered a relative with an axe during a Facebook Live broadcast.[76]
- 23 July: After murdering his ex-girlfriend and her sister, a Tallahassee, Florida man streamed his suicide on Facebook Live.[77]
- August: An Oklahoma teenager was accidentally shot in the face by another teenager.[78]
- 11 August: A Gradačac man shot and killed his ex-wife and 2 other people live on Instagram. He also wounded a police officer and 2 others before killing himself.[79]
- 7 October: During the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas fighters livestreamed the attack through Facebook Live, sometimes from phones stolen from Israelis.[80][81]
- 9 October: An 18-year-old Hebron man livestreamed on Facebook as he attempted to attack Israeli soldiers with a construction vehicle.[82]
- 20 October: 2 San Antonio teenagers accused of a fatal drive-by shooting livestreamed a car chase and their subsequent arrest on Instagram Live.[83]
- 22 October: A San Antonio man shot at a dog during a livestream.[84]
- 29 October: A shooting during Halloween festivities at Ybor City, a neighborhood in Tampa, which resulted in 2 dead was livestreamed on Instagram Live by victims.[85]
- 5 November: A Calamba, Misamis Occidental radio host was shot and killed during a Facebook Live broadcast.[86]
- 12 December: A group of friends in a Miami-Dade County rental were livestreaming when their house was shot at in a drive-by shooting, wounding a woman.[87]
- 12 December: An Uber driver in Mexico was shot during a struggle while driving and streaming on TikTok.[88]
- 15 December: 54-year-old Serhiy Batryn detonated 3 grenades during a meeting at Keretsky town hall, killing 1 and wounding 26. The meeting was being livestreamed at the time of the attack.[89][90]
2024
- 2 January: A Waukesha, Wisconsin man engaged in a shootout with police on Facebook Live following a domestic violence call.[91]
- 8 January: A San Rafael, California woman stabbed her mother to death on Facebook Live.[92]
- 8 February: Indian politician Mauris Noronha shot and killed his rival Abhishek Ghosalkaron on Facebook Live before killing himself.[93]
- 13 April: A man livestreamed himself as he fired several shots from a rifle while on the roof of a Marina del Rey, California apartment building.[94]
- 9 May: A Korean YouTuber fatally stabbed another YouTuber on a livestream.[95]
- 23 May: A Fort Wayne, Indiana man fired several shots at a random person inside a Kroger supermarket while on Facebook Live.[96]
- 26 June: 19-year-old Jordan Patten livestreamed himself attempting to commit a mass stabbing in Newcastle but eventually gave up. No one was injured. [97]
- 12 August: 18-year-old Arda Küçükyetim livestreamed himself stabbing and injuring at least five people outside a mosque in Eski şehir, Turkey.[98]
- 30 September: 15-year-old Hassan Harpeet livestreamed himself shooting up and injuring at least 300 people outside a mosque in Dharavi, India
See also
- Beheading video
- Christchurch Call to Action Summit
- Hurtcore
- Shooting of Robert Godwin, a 2017 case in which a video of the crime was posted online (but not livestreamed) by the perpetrator
- Snuff film
References
External links
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