Sweden to fine social media sites over murder-related advertisements

Sweden is moving to crack down on what officials describe as brazen online “murder adverts,” with the government proposing new rules that would force platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat to remove gang-linked recruitment posts within an hour or risk steep financial penalties.

Authorities say criminal networks in Sweden are making growing use of social media to enlist people to carry out killings and other violent crimes, as the phenomenon known as “crime as a service” continues to spread.

Those targeted for recruitment are often children younger than 15 — the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden — meaning they cannot be prosecuted and instead fall under the care of social services, a loophole that has made them especially useful to gangs.

“We will be first (in the European Union) with this kind of legislation targeting organised crime’s recruiting of children and youths,” Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.

Under the proposal, if parliament approves it, social media companies would from 15 July face fines of up to five million kronor (€460,000) if they do not remove the adverts within the required time.

“Today, murder contracts are openly posted on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat,” Pontus Andersson Garpvall, a Sweden Democrats member of parliament’s justice committee, told the same press conference.

He said criminals were using “various digital services” to coordinate bombings and shootings.

“Those who are drawn into this serious criminality and take on these criminal assignments are often children and young people who have no connection to either the instigator, the victim or the place where the crime is intended to be carried out,” Mr Garpvall said.

For more than a decade, the Nordic country has been grappling with a rise in organised violent crime, driven largely by gang conflict and battles for control of the drug market.

The government has already unveiled plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 from 1 July for offences carrying prison terms of at least four years.

That proposal has triggered strong criticism nationwide, with many of the organisations and public authorities consulted during the drafting process — including the police and prison authorities — voicing opposition.