Young men and boys fuelled by “strongly misogynistic” online material are hunting for vulnerable women and girls to exploit on websites such as eating disorder and suicide forums, senior officers have said.

The threat from young males wanting to carry out serious harm is so serious that counter-terrorism officers are joining the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the hunt for them, fearing they could go on to attack or kill.

Britain’s head of counter-terrorism, Matt Jukes, told the Guardian that a joint taskforce would be set up between his force and the NCA to tackle those fixated with violence online, in what he called a “decisive moment”.

Jukes, the Metropolitan police force’s assistant commissioner for specialist operations, said the new pairing would look for those consuming online material about killings or sexual abuse. Those who might go on to plot school shootings and other mass attacks, as well as those who encouraged women and girls to harm themselves, would also fall under their remit.

  • Grizzlyboy@lemm.ee
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    13 days ago

    This is why certain people shouldn’t have a platform to speak on. Social media is one of the worst things we’ve invented…

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      Many boys are naturally disgusting. Some grow out of it, others double down and drag future generations even further down with them.

        • boreengreen@lemm.ee
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          13 days ago

          It’s happening everywhere. Stop collection, agregation and sale of data and promote the decentralized alternatives. To preserve democracy and stem the spread of dis- and misinformation as well as limit billionares influence on public opinion.

          Essentially; make social media not profitable and less useful as propaganda platforms.

    • ObstreperousCanadian@lemmy.ca
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      13 days ago

      As someone who would be without a job without the internet, I truly believe we would be better off if the whole thing went away entirely.

      • NobodyElse@sh.itjust.works
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        I agree and it sucks. At the start of the internet, I was convinced that it was humanity’s single greatest accomplishment: near instantaneous worldwide communication between every human was possible. Access to all of our collective knowledge and intelligence at everyone’s fingertips.

        Then we discovered what that actually meant, practically. Either all of our collective knowledge amounts to💩 or we’ll let the greedy scum just latch onto it like everything else and turn it into shit for their personal profit.

        • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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          I felt the same way when I first got online in the mid-90s. I thought it was gonna bring all people together. Seems pretty quaint at this point!

          Things are obviously pretty bad right now but for me the jury’s still out. It could be really good a hundred years from now!

        • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
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          Same here. My job depends on it, and wikipedia is one of my favorite places.

          Yet so much terrible stuff has happened because of it.

  • PointyReality@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    I would argue ( happy to be countered argued and if proof can be given who knows you might even change my mind) that conservatism is the reason for the rise toxic masculinity, ergo the right is a toxic thing to embrace? change my mind.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      13 days ago

      That’s not really something that can be tested with a scientific experiment.

      • PointyReality@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        You can prove this with studies. Whether one has been done or not is another case entirely, but I remain steadfast imo that the right is a breeding ground for toxic masculinity.

  • jonne@infosec.pub
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    And the government is just using this as an excuse to slowly expand what falls under the terrorism legislation, until everything’s terrorism and the rule of law is completely undermined.

    • Lem Jukes@lemm.ee
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      Like, yea this is a thing to be concerned about in general, but this/here is not it my guy…

      • jonne@infosec.pub
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        It’s a crime and terrible, but it’s not terrorism (ie. Violence for political ends). Terrorism laws allow the government to do all kinds of stuff like searches without warrants and extended pre-trial detention. It’s good that they’re taking these crimes seriously, but the terrorism units should stay far away from this (and should be abolished entirely, ideally).

        And go after the influencers for incitement of crimes. If what Andrew Tate and others are publishing is causing people to do this, they should be locked up.

        • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          13 days ago

          This falls directly under current UK terrorism laws.

          If you have proof otherwise I’d be interested in seeing it.

          The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism, both in and outside of the UK, as the use or threat of one or more of the actions listed below, and where they are designed to influence the government, or an international governmental organisation or to intimidate the public. The use or threat must also be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.

          The specific actions included are:

          • serious violence against a person;
          • serious damage to property;
          • endangering a person’s life (other than that of the person committing the action);
          • creating a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public; and action designed to seriously interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system. Source
          • jonne@infosec.pub
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            What “political, religious, racial or ideological cause” is this advancing?

            • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              Ideological … misogynism, girls and women are less valuable than men, men must have power over women, etc etc