The livestreaming of crimes is a phenomenon in which people live stream criminal acts. Due to the fact publishing to social media is done with the intent of others viewing the published materials, it is often impossible to protect the privacy of the victims or people involved.[1][2][3][4]
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.[5][6] 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".[5] 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".[6]
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.[7]
Types
Cybersex trafficking
Cybersex trafficking, also referred to as live streaming sexual abuse,[8][9][10] involves sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual abuse and or rape on webcam.[11][12][13] Victims are abducted, threatened, or deceived and transferred to "cybersex dens".[14][15][16] The dens can be in any location where the cybersex traffickers have a computer, tablet, or phone with Internet connection.[12] Perpetrators use social media networks, videoconferences, pornographic video sharing websites, dating pages, online chat rooms, apps, dark web sites,[17] and other platforms.[18] They use online payment systems[17][19][20] and cryptocurrencies to hide their identities.[21] Millions of reports of its occurrence are sent to authorities annually.[22] New laws and police procedures are needed to combat this type of cybercrime.[23]
Instances
2008
- 8 June: A bystander livestreamed the Akihabara massacre on Ustream, attracting an audience of 2000 viewers. Another user also used Ustream to livestream the massacre's aftermath, including police and public response.[24]
2016
- 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.[25][26]
2017
- 3 January: A torture incident in Chicago, in which an 18-year-old mentally-disabled white male in Chicago, Illinois, US was filmed being physically and verbally abused by four Black individuals (two men and two women). The torture was live streamed by one of the women on Facebook and sparked massive controversy.[27]
- Early January: An American woman taped her toddler to the wall and live streamed it on Facebook Live.[28]
- 21 January: In Uppsala, Sweden, two Afghan immigrants and one Swedish citizen live streamed the gang rape of a woman on Facebook.[29]
- 24 April: A Thai man killed his infant daughter before committing suicide.[30]
2018
- 26 August: A gunman shot 12 people during a video game tournament, killing two. The shooting was live-streamed by the event's Twitch stream.[31]
2019
- 15 March: Two mass shootings occurred at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand,[32] where 51 people were killed and 40 were injured by 28-year-old Brenton Harrison Tarrant. The first attack was live streamed by the shooter on Facebook Live for 17 minutes, and has been described by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern "to be one of the darkest days in New Zealand history".[33] Following the shootings, Facebook announced restrictions on Facebook Live on those who posted violent extremist material.[34]
- 22 March: Vlad Christian 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 live stream by Salt + Light Television.[35]
- 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.[36]
- 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 live streamed on YouTube because the church live streamed its services.[37]
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 live-streamed by the perpetrator on Facebook Live.[38][39][40]
- 20 May: Armando "Junior" Hernandez, a 20-year-old live streamed his attack at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona, US where three people were wounded, on Snapchat.[41]
- 26 May: A man in Stamford, Connecticut live-streamed 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.[42]
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.[43][44]
- 23 March: Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa (or Alissa), 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 live-streamed on YouTube by a bystander.[45]
- 19 August: A 15-year-old student 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, who he had quoted in his manifesto.[46][47][48]
- 20 August: 19-year-old Aidan Ingalls shot a man to death and critically injured his wife on the South Haven Pier in South Haven, Michigan. Ingalls then aimed his gunfire towards beach goers, a boat and a jet skier. Ingalls missed all of his shots targeting them, but clipped the jet ski before turning the gun on himself halfway down the pier. The entire shooting lasted around a minute and was captured on WWMT’s camera, which was being live-streamed on youtube. The clip from the stream has since been wiped from the internet.
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.[49]
- 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. Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black and the 2 others were White.[50]
- 24 July: Brooklyn-based pastor Lamor Whitehead and his wife were robbed of more than $1,000,000 worth of jewelry during a live-streamed church service.[51]
- 7 September: During a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, Ezekiel Kelly, a 19-year-old male, live-streamed himself on Facebook Live entering an AutoZone store and critically wounding an employee.[52]
2023
- 10 April: A 25-year-old man live-streamed on Instagram as he opened fire at a bank he previously worked at in Louisville, Kentucky, killing five and wounding eight others.[53]
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 live streamed) by the perpetrator
- Snuff film
References
- ^ Lehigh University (3 August 2016). "Live-streaming crime How will Facebook Live and Periscope challenge US privacy law?". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
- ^ Stewart, D. R. C.; Littau, J. (2016). "Up, Periscope: Mobile Streaming Video Technologies, Privacy in Public, and the Right to Record". Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 93 (2): 312. doi:10.1177/1077699016637106. S2CID 147375255.
- ^ Phippen, J. Weston (6 January 2017). "The Desire to Live-Stream Violence". The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
- ^ Surette, Raymond (2015). "Performance Crime and Justice". Current Issues in Criminal Justice. 21 (2). Australasian Legal Information Institute: 195. doi:10.1080/10345329.2015.12036041. S2CID 148367691. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ a b McPhate, Mike (18 April 2016). "Teenager Is Accused of Live-Streaming a Friend's Rape on Periscope". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Woman accused of live-streaming rape on Periscope". BBC News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ Blaise, Lilia; Morenne, Benoît (11 May 2016). "Suicide on Periscope Prompts French Officials to Open Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ Sullivan, Michael (8 April 2020). "Child Sex Abuse Livestreams Increase During Coronavirus Lockdowns". NPR. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Guilbert, Kieran (28 March 2018). "Philippines child slavery survivors fight to heal scars of abuse". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ "What is Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation?". Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ "IJM Seeks to End Cybersex Trafficking of Children and #RestartFreedom this Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday" (Press release). International Justice Mission. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via PR Newswire.
- ^ a b "Cybersex Trafficking". International Justice Mission UK. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ de Leon, Sunshine (17 July 2013). "Cyber-sex trafficking: A 21st century scourge". CNN. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Romero, Paolo (13 April 2020). "Senator warns of possible surge in child cybersex traffic". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Khidhir, Sheith (18 October 2019). "Duterte's drug war and child cybersex trafficking". The ASEAN Post. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Masculino, Glazyl (1 May 2020). "Norwegian national, partner nabbed; 4 rescued from cybersex den". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ a b Almendral, Aurora (30 June 2018). "Cheap tech and widespread internet access fuel rise in cybersex trafficking". NBC News. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Romero, Paolo (11 November 2019). "Senate to probe rise in child cybersex trafficking". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Blomberg, Matt (15 April 2019). "Global taskforce tackles cybersex child trafficking in the Philippines". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Guilbert, Kieran (18 June 2018). "Webcam slavery: tech turns Filipino families into cybersex child traffickers". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Mera, Silvia (2 May 2019). "How the internet fuels sexual exploitation and forced labour in Asia". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ "1st Session, 42nd Parliament, Volume 150, Issue 194". Senate of Canada. 18 April 2018.
- ^ Blomberg, Matt (11 September 2019). "Cambodia feared lagging behind predators in cybersex trafficking crackdown". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Salzberg, Chris (4 November 2008). "Caught in the Web - The day Japan's netizens turned news on its head". Japan Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Korryn Gaines case: Video posting by suspects poses new challenges for police". The Baltimore Sun. August 4, 2016.
- ^ "Korryn Gaines Blackout Signals Expansion of Law Enforcement's Special Relationship with Facebook". The District Sentinel. 5 August 2016. August 5, 2016.
- ^ "4 Charged With Hate Crimes Over Beating Live-Streamed On Facebook". NPR.
- ^ Yuhas, Alan (20 January 2017). "Ohio mother who taped son to wall on Facebook Live faces charges". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Steinbuch, Yaron (26 January 2017). "Suspects in live-streamed gang rape are Afghan immigrants". New York Post. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Tanakasempipat, Patpicha; Thepgumpanat, Panarat (25 April 2017). "Thai man broadcasts baby daughter's murder live on Facebook". Reuters. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ Cranley, Ellen; Perper, Rosie; McLaughlin, Kelly (27 August 2018). "3 dead, including gunman, after mass shooting at Madden video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ Roose, Kevin (15 March 2019). "A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ Westcott, Ben; Marsh, Jenni; Regan, Helen; Wagner, Meg; Ries, Brian; Rocha, Veronica; Lewis, Aimee; Picheta, Rob; Kaur, Harmeet (17 March 2019). "Dozens killed in Christchurch mosque attack". CNN. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ Gunia, Anna (15 May 2019). "Facebook Tightens Live-Stream Rules in Response to the Christchurch Massacre". Time. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ Amiri, Farnoush (22 March 2019). "Priest stabbed during livestream of morning mass in Canada's largest church". NBC News. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Robertson, Adi (9 October 2019). "An anti-Semitic shooting in Germany was live streamed on Twitch". The Verge. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Maclean, Dave (29 December 2019). "Two killed in shooting during a live-streamed church service in Texas". The Independent. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "20 killed as soldier opens fire in Korat". Bangkok Post. 9 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ "ผู้ว่าฯ สกลนคร เป็นประธานในพิธีพระราชทานเพลิงศพนายอุทัย ขันอาสา ซึ่งเสียชีวิตจากเหตุกราดยิงที่โคราช" [The governor of Sakon Nakhon presided over the cremation ceremony of Uthai Khanasa, who died in the Korat shooting.] (in Thai). Thai News. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "อาลัย 'อุทัย ขันอาสา' รปภ.เหยื่อกราดยิงโคราชเสียชีวิตแล้ว หลังยื้อชีวิตนาน 6 เดือน" [Lamented 'Uthai Khanasa' Security Guard, the victim of Korat shooting was dead. After 6 months] (in Thai). Channel 3 Thailand News. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ Gilbert, David (21 May 2020). "A Mass Shooter Live-streamed His Attack on Snapchat at an Arizona Mall". Vice. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Nickerson, John (27 May 2020). "Stamford man charged in I-95 shooting incident". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ Ryman, Anne. "Scottsdale prosecutor says far-right streamer Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet violated release conditions by traveling to Capitol riot". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ Paz, Isabella Grullón (16 January 2021). "Far-right activist 'Baked Alaska' is among the latest Capitol rioters to be arrested". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ Robertson, Adi (23 March 2021). "YouTube won't remove a three-hour live-streamed video of the mass shooting in Boulder". The Verge. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ Nyheter, S. V. T.; Sisask, Raphaelle (18 October 2021). "Skolattacken i Eslöv – minut för minut". SVT Nyheter.
- ^ Nyheter, S. V. T.; Johansson, Otto (18 October 2021). "Skolattacken i Eslöv: 15-åringen hade utsett elever han ville döda". SVT Nyheter.
- ^ "Skolattackerna i Skåne: Ville sprida sina åsikter-knivskar lärare". 28 October 2021.
- ^ Williams, Michael (15 January 2022). "Colleyville police SWAT team involved in incident at synagogue". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Gunman kills 10 at New York store while livestreaming on Twitch". BNO News. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ Chappell, Bill (25 July 2022). "A high-profile pastor was robbed during a live-streamed service in NYC". NPR. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ "4 killed, man arrested in Memphis shootings after grisly live stream". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon livestreamed shooting rampage inside Kentucky bank: officials". ABC7 Chicago. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.