Lies

In the context of the surveillance marketing model that incentivises the posting and sharing of extreme and divisive content, this chapter considers cases in which social media and peer-to-peer messaging apps are used to initiate, expedite, and exponentially amplify disinformation, social division, and violence, with particularly serious consequences for children. Exploring cases that exploit collective fears about the abduction of children, the chapter examines the role of technological affordances in blurring the boundaries between truth and fiction, resulting in acts of lethal vigilantism that weaken the rule of law and divert much-needed attention from legitimate child protection concerns. In permitting the viral disinformation that perpetuates binary notions of childhood innocence/aberrance, the digital ecosystem compromises children’s rights to freedom of expression, and protection from violence.