14th July 2019 Utica, New York: ‘I know this is going to come as kind of a surprise, at least to you, it isn’t to me, but I killed someone today. I killed my girlfriend.’ The Social Media Murders s2e3: The Murder of Bianca Devins, ITV 2023
At 6.48 a.m. a photo of the dead body of teenager Bianca Devins was posted on social media by her killer, Brandon Clark. ibid.
‘When she was about 12 and in the 7th grade she started to struggle with mental health and depression.’ ibid. friend
‘The suspect, 21-year-old Brandon Clark, was hospitalised and is expected to survive.’ ibid. TV news
‘One of the first things he said when he was apprehended was, he was very curious to know how many TV stations were covering the story.’ ibid.
7th April 2020 Litherland, Merseyside: A murder inquiry’s underway after a 20-year-old man was shot dead on Mersey. Police were called to a house in Litherland shortly after 11 last night … The Social Media Murders: The Murder of Mikey Rainsford s2e4, TV news, ITV 2024
‘Pip and Worm: we needed to know who they were.’ ibid. rozzer
‘They had left on this electric motorbike.’ ibid.
‘A crucial piece of evidence – that Snapchat information.’ ibid.
A teenage Tiktoker in Pennsylvania that killed her sister. Did she do it for views? … This is a developing case. True Crime Recaps: Tiktoker Kills Sister, Youtube 28.58, 2021
14-year-old Claire Miller allegedly stabbed her 19-year-old sister Helen through the neck … Helen had cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair. ibid.
When the police got there a few minutes later Claire was waiting for them in the front yard. ibid.
You never really know who you’re talking to online … The gruesome triple murder of a 15-year-old’s family and the sickening fate that her fake boyfriend [Austin Lee Edwards] had in mind for her … She was Brooke Winek’s daughter. True Crime Recaps: Her Fake Online Boyfriend Had Something in Mind, Youtube 8.51, 2023
Police rescued the teenage girl and opened fire on the driver … but the San Bernardino sheriff’s department said the fatal wound was self-inflicted. ibid.
She was catfished out of her unborn baby. Mom of three Ashley Bush was almost eight months pregnant with her fourth when she got in the car with a new friend [Amber Waterman], a woman she’d met on Facebook, a woman she knew as Lucy. True Crime Recaps: Facebook Catfish Lures Pregnant Woman, Youtube 8.00, 2023
She [Ashley] and her baby girl were never seen alive again … She was killed – before or after the baby was taken from her womb is still being determined. ibid.
Tiktok: Over one billion of us use it. In just a few years it’s changed the world. Is it now changing us? Tiktok seems to be driving some users to a frenzy, witchhunts by amateur sleuths, to incidents of copycat violence. These frenzies seem to be fuelled by posting and sharing on the platform. The TikTok Effect, BBC 2023
Is the company aware of what’s going on? Or is the machine out of control? ibid.
In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg creates Facebook. Four years later he becomes the youngest self-made billionaire in history. A CEO of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp he has connected almost half of the global population. Zuckerberg: King of the Metaverse, captions, Sky Showcase 2024
Mr Zuckerberg, are you too powerful? Do you think you are too powerful? ibid. committee
It is alleged that Facebook has disrupted elections around the world. ibid. caption
Dumb Fucks. ibid. Zuckerberg re first users
They just sort of violated everyone’s privacy without asking. ibid. man
March 2018: News breaks of a massive breach of Facebook user data. ibid. caption
Mark Zuckerberg is currently worth over $100 billion. His platforms are used by over 3 billion people around the world, an estimated 49% of the global population. ibid.
Manti Te’O had an astounding senior year, without question. Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist, Netflix 2022
His mother and girlfriend had died the same night … One problem. His girlfriend didn’t exist. ibid.
What started as an inspirational story deteriorated into a cruel twisted hoax. ibid. TV news
At the time of filming, subjects were not aware that Ronaiah identifies as a transgender woman. ibid.
The number one outside linebacker [prospect] in the nation. ibid. TV news
In 2009 no-one knew anything about catfishing. ibid. Manti
Everybody was telling me, You are the man. ibid.
That’s when everything went chaotic. ibid.
This tip is different … She physically did not exist outside of being Manti Te’O’s dead girlfriend. Which was the whole story to me. Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist II, reporter Tim Burke
If you’d have told men ten years ago that we’re going to be in this position, I would have laughed. The Sidemen Story, Netflix 2024
It’d be cool to make a few videos online and see where it gets me. ibid.
The Sidemen are a group Youtubers who are just smashing it right now. ibid. observer
They get a billion impressions every month. ibid.
Who the hell cares what Hollywood thinks? ibid.
TV is dead ibid. Sideman
The last couple of years has been the scariest time I can remember to be a woman. I myself have never been more afraid of walking home alone. But that’s not the only way we are being targeted. There’s an online culture of men who are angered; they have taken to social media to express extreme beliefs … Incel. Laura Whitmore Investigates: Women Haters? The Truth About Incels, ITV 2024
Men who are so angry and frustrated that they target women with hateful comments and messages … In the past 10 years over 100 women from around the world are said to be murdered or injured over INCEL-related attacks. ibid.
I was the victim of a stalking incident. I was receiving threatening letters to my workplace … The perpetrator set up some fake online profile accounts … Laura Whitmore Investigates: Cyber Stalking, ITV 2024
On average over 300,000 of us are victims of stalking and harassment every year. ibid.
Fifteen years ago we were just dumbass kids having a good time sharing jokes and memes on the internet … not understanding the jokes we made would turn into conspiracy theories. The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem, Netflix 2024
Japan: 2Channel is an anonymous bulletin board system. ibid. dude
4chan: an English version of 2Channel. ibid.
2Channel’s effect on Japanese society was profound. ibid.
Anonymous: It coalesced into an identity. ibid.
If something drew the ire of Anonymous, it suffered. ibid.
Scientology was not an easy target. ibid.
A web-based group called Anonymous has been picketing and protesting in front of the Church of Scientology and elsewhere. ibid. TV news
Anime Convention: It was very stark control to all the goodness that you saw. ibid. dude
Occupy Wall Street: A real driving force behind the Wall Street Occupiers. ibid.
Jeremy Hammond is one of five suspected hackers arrested by the FBI. ibid. TV news
These young men were experiencing this profound mass alienation. ibid. female journalist
January 6th Stop the Steal: They were enacting something that was a fantasy on the internet. ibid. dude
This is where it needs to fucking stop. ibid.
Many victims, including minors, were blackmailed into filming sexual videos. Cyber Hell, news, Netflix 2022
Exclusive: Sexually exploitative videos circulating on Telegram assumed to be run by teens. 19,000 child pornography links shared. ibid.
I realised, if it’s a scam, it’s a really big scam. Instagram’s Worst Con Artist I, Richard Guilliatt, journalist, ITV 2024
The Whole Pantry is the world’s first health, wellness and lifestyle app. ibid. Belle Gibson
Belle is my baby sister. If she did have cancer, why wasn’t I informed about it? ibid. brother
She announces to the world that her brain cancer has progressed to Stage IV and it’s now all through her body. ibid. former friend