Social new spaces to control

We are in the midst of the evolution of digital communication, favoured and facilitated by new hyper-connected devices capable of sharing high-resolution audio, images and video over the network, thanks to the enhancement and efficiency of telecommunications networks that support the fast transfer of this huge amount of data.

This new mode of communication, widely used and appreciated especially by the younger generations, has induced behavioural changes and transformations in urban areas. The playgrounds, streets and the basketball courts, once full of kids,

are now increasingly deserted. But if we could see inside the optical fibre that passes under the streets of our cities we would see a swarm of bits that, like busy ants, go from one side to the other. But where are our kids? By now they are all on social media with their heads bent over their smartphones typing cryptic messages (TVB,LOL,Tbh, …) and sending emoticons.

This change has not gone unnoticed by criminal organisations that are always intent on controlling the territory for their illegal activities. In this new scenario, criminal organisations no longer need bullies, guns, and knives to assert their supremacy over a territory. We can say that criminal organisations are evolving into phase 2.0. Now the bosses and their henchmen do not roam our streets but open social profiles through which they generate consensus and spread criminal culture.   The judiciary, investigating the social profiles of several members of criminal organisations, has discovered that criminal organisations now have their own digital communication model, which has rapidly innovated with the slang used by the new generations, e.g. based on the colour of the hat worn in a party photo, one communicates to another affiliate the type of connection there is with the person being photographed. Another symbol of communication are tattoos, which, according to the part of the body on which they are done and according to the type, order one to perform one action or another (kill, intimidate, protect).

Social profiles are often used by criminal organisations to recruit new recruits by showing videos in which clan members drive around in luxury cars, attend exclusive clubs often accompanied by beautiful women. By now, criminal organisations are creating their own criminal culture by contrasting it with the culture of legality in which most of us were brought up.

Before this digital revolution, criminal organisations used pistols, rifles, and mere physical force. Today, however, they use keyboards, passwords, modern high-tech equipment, and the ‘soldiers’ are no longer the picciotti with the coppola

but hackers and computer experts. The control of financial market flows, the theft of sensitive data, and the revolution in communication are just some of the aspects that are emerging from this new hybrid of crime and technology.

Thanks to digital manpower, criminal organisations are able to conduct illicit activities worldwide (worldwide web). We are witnessing a progressive increase in cybercrimes and this shows us that no one is excluded from the evolution of digital communication, especially those organisations that make communication the means to control spaces and people. Using cryptocurrencies, criminal organisations move huge sums of money by trafficking anonymously in weapons and drugs. We can conclude by saying without a shadow of a doubt that technology is changing the face of criminal organisations, even those linked to ancient family traditions such as the ‘ndrangheta’, the Mafia and the Camorra.