Swedish police said Friday they have demanded tech giants Tiktok and Meta take down 30 posts offering payment for criminal services since mid-July, as criminals increasingly make use of social networks. The Nordic country has struggled for more than a decade to rein in a surge in gang violence linked primarily to score-settling and battles to control the drug market. Swedish gangs often use social media and encrypted apps to recruit teens who are paid to carry out crimes, including murders, knowing they would avoid prison sentences if arrested. “Since July 15, we have had legislation that allows us to order platforms to remove online recruitment content within one hour,” a police spokeswoman told AFP in an email. Since then, “we have sent 30 orders ... 29 to TikTok and one to Meta,” she added. The platforms had complied, but police were still calling for greater awareness and for tech companies to step up their monitoring and moderation of content. Criminals operate with a well-oiled modus operandi: the ads are first posted openly on social networks such as TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat. When a young person responds to an ad, the conversation then continues on an encrypted messaging service. “The amounts offered can range from 10,000 kronor (US$1,060) to several million, depending on the crime they want to outsource,” the spokeswoman said. “These are false promises used to draw young people into crime. It is extremely rare for the money to actually be paid, especially for the fanciful amounts advertised to be genuinely handed over,” she added. On Aug. 13, the Swedish parliament voted to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14, a measure that will come into force on Sept. 10.
