Online ‘Pedophile Hunters’ Are Growing More Violent — and Going Viral: With the rise of loosely moderated social media platforms, a fringe vigilante movement is experiencing a dangerous evolution.
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100%.
There is an old trope about arsonists, they either become criminals or they become firefighters.
At least with firefighters, we don't have to worry about if the firefighter is going to get the fire in a room alone later.
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There are cases of arsonist fire fighters which is an even stronger analogy.
Those who claim to fight fires are often the ones setting them, so they can be seen as the heroes who extinguish them.
Really good point and in cases like this we should all be a lot more concerned with people who seem obsessive about a given subject. It's not a coincidence that so many crackpot Q-anon "save the children from the demon vampires" nutcases were actually themselves pedos who were caught, or that Q-anon STARTED on a pedophile message board.
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Vigilantism is just a sign that government has become too corrupt to deal with problems effectively.
Or a sign that government is the problem as politicians resort more to divisiveness, hatred, bigotry and scapegoating to capture more extreme voters. Politicians stoke the outrage, inflame some groups against others, call for ending the rights of those they’ve marginalized, and even pardon those who committed treason in the name of fake vigilantism, based on manipulation and misrepresentation
That's the same as corruption. Corruption isn't just monetary bribes.
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I’d make a guess they’re getting violent because the legal system can’t do anything with their compromised evidence. Instead of realizing they’re not the people qualified to do this work, they’re just doubling down and “handling it themselves.”
They're getting more violent because they're getting more views when they get violent.
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How old are you?
14/f/cali
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Great. Just dump anyone you dislike as a "pedophile" and then it's a free for all.
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You got down voted but all we need to check is how catholic church has been given a blank check for what they do...
Fuck them. I won't cry when pedo priest is given justice.
This clown regime think they can just put something like that under the rug
Except these guys never go after the Catholic Church
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I’d make a guess they’re getting violent because the legal system can’t do anything with their compromised evidence. Instead of realizing they’re not the people qualified to do this work, they’re just doubling down and “handling it themselves.”
I don't know how it works in the US, and it's certainly not perfect, but if you bring "compromised" evidences of actual child abuse, you can be sure it'll trigger some extensive investigation. Sometimes, this leads to nothing. Sometimes, the "evidences" were not really evidence, but more of a hunch. Sometimes, it leads to actual consequences.
One issue with such a vigilante system is that sometimes, you're wrong. That's why due process is a thing. But the "this evidence was collected illegally, so we won't even look up the guy" thing isn't really a thing, as long as the evidence is better than "I'm sure of it".
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I wouldn't even be surprised if most of them are pedophiles themselves.
Well, there’s this case.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/373981/fake-pedophile-hunter-convicted-of-child-pornography
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So ... What you're saying, it's that there would be less oversight when it comes to choosing their targets. Almost exactly like OP said. Almost like they were speaking in broad strokes and you failed to notice any nuance.
Bruh, why are you taking umbrage? Chill, I didn't shit on your birthday cake.
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Have they tried looking in churches and the Republican party?
That would get them regulated, they're only going after the "correct" "bad people"
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Didn't an entire TV show get into some serious hot water for doing this sort of thing which resulted in someone committing suicide while filming an episode? These people are potentially putting themselves in serious danger if they corner a pedo who feels like they have nowhere to run or anything left to lose.
If they corner anyone, tbh. This is a pretty ruinous accusation.
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Great. Just dump anyone you dislike as a "pedophile" and then it's a free for all.
especially when you have people like elon musk calling people they don't like paedophiles and winning defamation suits over it by claiming he calls everyone paedophiles.
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Didn't an entire TV show get into some serious hot water for doing this sort of thing which resulted in someone committing suicide while filming an episode? These people are potentially putting themselves in serious danger if they corner a pedo who feels like they have nowhere to run or anything left to lose.
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Get the fuck out, man.
Teenagers fuck each other all the time, consensually.
So there goes your argument about people younger than 18 being incapable of giving consent.
For the record, I'm in my 40s and I wouldn't go out with anyone below the age of 30, before someone accuses me of anything I ain't.
I hate predators as much as the next person, but let's not go over to the other extreme.
Children can't consent. Teenagers fucking is without consent. Their brains, on the average, are not capable of making that level of decision.
But that doesn't make it illegal.
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We’ve decided, as a society, that humans cannot consent until 18.
Older criminal laws were based on that idea, usually called "statutory rape". Modern laws about sexual abuse of children usually ignore the concept of consent entirely to allow for more nuance.
One example of nuance is exceptions for people close in age so that non-abusive relationships between teenagers don't suddenly become crimes when someone has a birthday. Another is that consent is often a factor in the severity of the penalty.
Yes and that's completely fair. It's about the imbalance of power. An 18 y.o. and one day, is exactly the same as they were two days prior.
But the cutoff has to be somewhere, and the guy I was replying to was talking about proper adults and 16 y.o.
That's a highschool sophomore. And I think we'd all agree a sophomore dating a college student would be pretty imbalanced.
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They can deflect doubt because they are hunting pedophiles.
"You wouldn't defend a pedophile now, would you?" - clout chasing violence monger
And if you haven't found any pedophiles yet, well, I guess you're not trying hard enough. Or maybe... you are one of them...
Can't believe this needs an /s
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Regardless of how awful the crime is, we cannot accept vigilantes.
Speak for yourself.
MAGA would deport you for having the wrong color skin regardless of your citizenship. I’m find with ruining their lives regardless of any crimes committed. This wouldn’t have been the case a couple years ago- but things have changed.
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Is that really the only problem you see with people taking justice into their own hands? Less oversight?
Disproportionate punishment is another of course. They probably lump pedophiles (a person with a psychiatric disorder) and child molesters (a person that actually harms children) into the same group and you deserve to die for simply thinking the wrong things.
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Didn't an entire TV show get into some serious hot water for doing this sort of thing which resulted in someone committing suicide while filming an episode? These people are potentially putting themselves in serious danger if they corner a pedo who feels like they have nowhere to run or anything left to lose.
corner a pedo
And since these are internet vigilante kids with no oversight, they will inevitably corner some non-pedos too.
Put yourself in that situation- a couple teenagers with cameras approach you on the street and start accusing you of some of the sickest crimes imaginable. Even though the accusation is false, this has the potential to ruin your career, your relationships, your entire life.
I'm not sure how anyone would respond, or should respond, but I can definitely see how people might resort to violence when falsely accused of this horrible shit on camera.
