When Tiktok is the scene of a crime

Thirty -two thousand. It was the number of people who saw one of the videos, published on the Tiktok social network, of a 16 -year -old girl who was violated by three young people in a collection in Loures. Despite the thousands of witnesses of the crime, no complaints have been filed. It was only through a participation of the Beatriz Ângelo Hospital, where the victim was attended, that the Public Security Police (PSP) became aware of the case, which took place in February.

It is known, the suspects, aged 17 and 19, would beNFLUENCERS On social networks, with a very significant audience, especially in Tiktok. Among the followers was the victim. The minor initially agreed to meet one of the suspects near his residence, but the young man appeared accompanied by two friends, strangers of the victim. A judicial source, cited by Expresshe said the young woman will have accepted, at first, to have sex, but, already at the scene, told the boys to stop, which did not happen. The video of the violation was edited and divided into various parts to be shared on social networks.

The suspects were present to the first judicial interrogation, having been placed in freedom, being subject to the measures of coercion of periodic presentations and prohibition of contacts with the victim. The three young people are indicted of 51 crimes involving kidnapping, violation and pornography of minors.

“Violation does not film, it is condemned”

The contours of the case and the fact that the suspects were waiting in freedom generated a wave of indignation that culminated in a demonstration last Saturday, with the motto « Violation does not film, condemns. » Several hundreds of people joined in front of the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon to demand more effective responses from the authorities in sexual abuse crimes.

Speaking to journalists, representatives of the Left Bloc, Free and Pan argued that the violation must become a public crime and that the platforms that generate social networks should be legally responsible for sharing images and videos of sexual crimes.

Confessions on social networks

Before the formal complaint, one of the suspects of violation published a video in collaboration with another influencerwhere it shows a frame From the video of the alleged violation and explains that it was a « generation » (group sex), where they would be under the use of drugs.

The young man also boasts that the girl would have been almost unable to walk and had to go to the hospital following the sexual act. At the time, when the video was published it was not known that it was a violation, but the young man did not make a point of hiding the details of what happened.

This is the second recent case where a influencer It admits or speaks openly about a crime on social networks, without fear of reprisals. When challenged to tell a secret that never told, the tiktoker James Grila admitted to run over a person.

The confession was made on the YouTube program Master’s podcastwhere the influencerAlways smile on her face, he says: « I run over a person and ran away. There when I got out of bingo, in the amateur. I didn’t see her, I was clinging to the mobile phone. I hear a suitcase and left the glass, » he said, « Then I saw that she got up, beware. Touch. ”

Later, a Sic He said that the run -over mentioned by Tiago Grila had happened on January 17, 2024, shortly after 8 pm, on a treadmill on Avenida D. José I, in Amadora, and that the victim, a woman, suffered several ills.

The television channel states that the victim lost his senses with the clash, having suffered fractures of two teeth, left arm and a head trauma that needed eight points, as well as several bruises on the face and body.

It is recalled that the confession of the tiktoker It caused the PSP to report the crime to the prosecutor, who has already reopened the investigation.

Now James Grila denies everything, but what has been said on social networks will be a key piece in the process.

Tiktok, a lawless land? Coincidence or not, both cases involve “Tiktok stars”, one of the networks most used by young people. Despite the crimes of crimes that are accused, both the young suspects of violation, and Tiago Grila, increased the number of followers after the controversies.

In the case of Grila, the influencer He even claimed that he would have invented confession as a « marketing play » to generate views and grow on social networks.

It is certain that social networks have been several times accused of allowing the sharing of violent content, hatred and discriminatory speeches and even child pornography.

In the case of Tiktok, the platform not only allowed the video sharing, but the propagation of videos with direct references to the crime, as well as comments that ridicule the victim or glorify the aggressors. Some of these contents even appeared on recommendation pages, accessible to users under 13.

Like other platforms, the social network detained by Bytedance claims that it has moderation and artificial intelligence teams to detect problem content, but it does not seem to be sufficient.

In November 2024, seven French families sued Tiktok, accusing the platform of exposing their children to content that would have contributed to the decline of adolescents’ mental health and, in two cases, brought to suicide. Families claim that the Tiktok algorithm promoted harmful videos, exacerbating psychological problems in young people.