Europol: Children recruited for violent crime via gaming and social media platforms
The phenomenon of criminals recruiting children on social media and gaming platforms to commit violent crimes is spreading across Europe like wildfire, Europol announced on Nieuwsuur. Last year, Europol arrested 280 suspects connected to recruiting children and identified another 1,400 people involved in these types of networks, either as recruiters or as victims.
These figures are the first results of a Europol task force established last year. The Netherlands and ten other countries are collaborating to get a grip on violence as a service - criminals paying children to do their dirty work, including threats, planting explosives, assault, and even murder.
According to Europol, the practice transcends national borders. Early last year, a 15-year-old Dutch child was arrested in Hamburg for a shooting. Three suspects from Sweden were arrested for a shooting in Oosterhout in which three men were killed. And earlier this year, a 16-year-old Swedish boy was arrested for shooting at a detainee in the Alphen aan den Rijn prison.
“The phenomenon is spreading like wildfire across Europe,” Andy Kraag of Europol told Nieuwsuur. The children getting recruited are getting younger and younger, he said. “13 or 14 years old is no exception. And the crimes are becoming increasingly violent.”
“Young people are in chat groups on Snapchat, TikTok, and gaming platforms. These recruiters are in the same groups and post advertisements in attractive language so that a boy thinks: For a few cents, I could do this,” Kraag said. Last year, the Europol task force identified 14,000 accounts where such ads were posted.
According to investigators, these networks all have generally the same structure. The client is at the top of the chain. They contact a “recruiter,” who then searches for young perpetrators. “Once they have found a child, an organizer comes on board, a fixer,” Kraag said. “He ensures the child receives a weapon, transport, and a hotel.”
The kids are often required to film their crimes, and those videos are subsequently shared in chat groups to glorify these deeds.
“Children are used as cannon fodder, and the criminals themselves keep their hands clean,” Kraag said. “But ultimately, when the job is done, nine out of ten times the perpetrators do not receive their money and are arrested by the police. The only one who wins is the criminal.”
Europol is in talks with Snapchat, Meta, and other social media companies about what they can do to combat this phenomenon. “Those companies are also developing a sense of responsibility that they must do something about this.”
