77
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by NineMileTower@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

I keep seeing videos lately of grown men posing as children online and baiting individuals to public spaces and either assaulting them or recording/exposing them for content. While I don't mind the idea of a predator being outed, the idea of grown adults posing as children online seems unsavory to me. Especially if their end goal isn't to protect children, and is to provide content for views.

Obviously, being a child predator is wildly immoral and illegal and their actions are not what's being debated.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Vigilantism, by definition, has no accountability. It's an individual, who could be mistaken, doling out their own interpretation of justice. There are always exceptions to the rule. Sure, posing as a child could illicit attention from child predators, but it could also attract someone who is concerned about the welfare of the (fake) child. I can imagine someone, abused as a child, wanting to reach out and help someone they think is in danger of falling victim to the same. It's not a huge stretch of the imagination.

However, our legal system is woefully inadequate in addressing the amount of predators out there, precisely because it hinges on evidence of an act that often has none, while going unreported for long periods of time.

I'd say, that if someone is attempting to meet up with a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact, and you are alerted to that, you get to beat the shit out of them, but I'd draw the line at recording and posting, just in case you were wrong. Guy gets beaten up, learns a lesson, but if he was innocent, all he did was get his ass whooped.

this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
77 points (95.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26208 readers
1917 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS