How police are using social media to predict gang crime before it happens

Analysis: The change of strategy comes after years of attempts to make social media companies remove material, writes Lizzie Dearden

Instagram is one of the platforms used to find ‘chatter’ on upcoming violence (iStock)

Social media has a substantial role in facilitating gang activity by intensifying, amplifying, and moving it to a space that is perceived by gang members to be impenetrable by the authorities,” warns the government’s Serious Violence Strategy.

“Threats of violence, recruitment and drug dealing are glamorised and promoted in this seemingly secluded space, and gangs often post videos online that seek to incite violence or glamorise criminality to influence young people. The instant nature of social media also means that plans develop rapidly and disputes can escalate very quickly.”

The April 2018 document accurately diagnosed the impact of social media on rising violent crime across Britain, but users who know where to look will have seen little change since it was published.