TY - JOUR

T1 - Drug dealing on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram

T2 - A qualitative analysis of novel drug markets in the Nordic countries

AU - Demant, Jakob Johan

AU - Bakken, Silje Anderdal

AU - Oksanen, A.

AU - Gunnlaugsson, Helgi

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Aims: Internet use has changed drug dealing over the past decade owing to the emergence of darknet services. Yet, little is known about drug dealing in public online services. This study reports findings from a Nordic comparative study on social media drug dealing. It is the first in-depth study on the increase of digitally mediated drug dealing outside the cryptomarkets. Design and methods: A qualitative study using online ethnography and semi-structured interviews. 107 participants aged 16-45 (mean age 23.1 years), with 83.2% being male. Data was coded in NVivo using general themes: modus operandi, trust, and risk.Results: Ethnographical data shows a high degree of drug dealing activity on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook Messenger. Buyers and sellers also use encrypted platforms, such as darknet forums and the Wickr app on their smartphones. The medium used varies across the countries, as well as motivations for usage in connection with risk perceptions. Discussion: Despite national differences, social media is a common tool used in selling and buying illegal drugs. Availability affects the prevalence of use of various social media; however, prevalence is also crucial for which media is used. Many of the participants report easily drifting in and out of social media dealing and buying, without being aware of the seriousness of the offence. Conclusion: Based on the differences in attachment to the seller career, we advise that policing strategies should be supplemented with—and even stand in the back of—prevention campaigns.

AB - Aims: Internet use has changed drug dealing over the past decade owing to the emergence of darknet services. Yet, little is known about drug dealing in public online services. This study reports findings from a Nordic comparative study on social media drug dealing. It is the first in-depth study on the increase of digitally mediated drug dealing outside the cryptomarkets. Design and methods: A qualitative study using online ethnography and semi-structured interviews. 107 participants aged 16-45 (mean age 23.1 years), with 83.2% being male. Data was coded in NVivo using general themes: modus operandi, trust, and risk.Results: Ethnographical data shows a high degree of drug dealing activity on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook Messenger. Buyers and sellers also use encrypted platforms, such as darknet forums and the Wickr app on their smartphones. The medium used varies across the countries, as well as motivations for usage in connection with risk perceptions. Discussion: Despite national differences, social media is a common tool used in selling and buying illegal drugs. Availability affects the prevalence of use of various social media; however, prevalence is also crucial for which media is used. Many of the participants report easily drifting in and out of social media dealing and buying, without being aware of the seriousness of the offence. Conclusion: Based on the differences in attachment to the seller career, we advise that policing strategies should be supplemented with—and even stand in the back of—prevention campaigns.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - social media

KW - internet

KW - illegal drugs

KW - drug market

KW - comparative study

U2 - 10.1111/dar.12932

DO - 10.1111/dar.12932

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31050051

VL - 38

SP - 377

EP - 385

JO - Drug and Alcohol Review

JF - Drug and Alcohol Review

SN - 0959-5236

IS - 4

ER -