Identifying trends and patterns in offending and victimization on Snapchat

• In Event: Cybercrime Working Group - Cybercriminals

Abstract

Social media has had an enormous impact on society, evolving from a simple mode of communication, to the behemoth of global connection that it is today. Present day social media outlets, while intended for use with benevolent motives, does allow for new opportunities for cybercrime victimization, and even shapes human interactions, reality, and normality as we know it worldwide. Snapchat, while under researched compared to Facebook or Instagram for example, is an ephemeral photo sharing social media application, that still boasts a usership of over 500 million users worldwide. Few studies have examined crime on Snapchat despite its popularity and growing accounts of victimization occurring on the application. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by conducting a rapid review of crime on Snapchat across multiple databases. The findings indicate this area is under-researched, with only 35 articles eligible for inclusion and five focusing solely on crime on Snapchat. Nevertheless, eleven types of crimes were identified as occurring on Snapchat, including: blackmail; the sharing of private, sexual material without consent; grooming/solicitation of minors; stalking; posting threatening, intimidating, or harassing material; hate crime; sharing offensive, menacing, or obscene content; obtaining illicit goods; identity theft; fraud; and hacking. The findings additionally revealed some patterns in offending and victimization that have implications worldwide when it comes to not just crime on Snapchat, but cybercrime more generally.

Author

• Kelly Huie, Queen's University Belfast