A first grade girl has attempted suicide after being threatened on WhatsApp. A young girl, pictured with a gun in her mouth, was sold on Snapchat, before police intervened. A youngster was locked in a dog crate at gunpoint, and his picture was shared on social media by several users.
Posted at 11:17 a.m.
These three events have occurred in Montreal in recent months, revealed Detective Sergeant Maya Alieh, cyber investigation specialist at the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM). They illustrate well the glorification of violence on social media, and their dangers for young people, according to the expert.
“We have 68% increase in firearms files on social networks since 2021 [au SPVM], she says. In 2018, we had three files of people who displayed themselves with firearms on social networks. Since the beginning of 2022, we are currently at 58 files. »
Maya Alieh made these revelations Thursday morning, when the second part of the Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence opened in Old Montreal.
The role of social media in trivializing violence is one of the topics discussed during this event, where participants come from the community, school, health and public safety sectors.
A Montreal model
“What we have to do is develop a Montreal model to fight against armed violence,” said Mayor Valérie Plante, kicking off the day’s work. “Young people died in the streets of Montreal. It is intolerable and unacceptable. We have to find our solutions, based on our reality. »
Two young people, Abdellah Azzouz and Émile Tremblay, also came to say that more investment was needed in community and sports organizations, in particular, so that teenagers can occupy themselves, develop a sense of belonging and find their passions.
“For many young people, violence has become normal, it is part of their daily life. But it’s not normal that it’s normal, ”lamented Émile Tremblay, 16, who is a friend of Thomas Trudel, this teenager shot dead in the middle of the street in the Saint-Michel district last fall.
“There is a lot of fear at the moment, and when we are afraid, we buy a weapon to protect ourselves,” noted Abdellah Azzouz, speaker at the Saint-Michel Youth Forum.
The federal Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, the Quebec minister responsible for metropolitan France, Chantal Rouleau, and the head of the SPVM, Sylvain Caron, also reiterated the importance of tackling violence by firearms.
Following the day’s work, concrete measures must be announced by Mayor Plante.