Mafie &
Social Media:

Prof. Davide Bennato explained to us that his research method can provide a new point of view both on the analysis of mafia social processes and on the methodologies used to fight it. Advanced tools, such as social network analysis, can help investigators in their investigations and reveal new virtual meeting places between bosses.

We also started a reflection on criminal influencers. Who is behind the mafia social media, the last link in the chain of power, the voice outside the chorus that acts autonomously or are there instead the decision makers? Are the bosses who decide how to act aware of the use that young affiliates make of these tools and yes, do they agree with these practices?

From the studies of Prof. Davide Bennato it is clear that everything depends on the nature of the criminal organization and the intrinsic structure of the mafias. In fact, the mafias are distinguished from each other by organization, division of burdens and balances of power.
If the ndrangheta can be considered a real network, a network between clans, the Sicilian mafia instead has a more hierarchical and organized pyramid structure.
In the case of the ndrangheta therefore certainly keeping in touch with the “followers” is a more concrete advantage than for the Sicilian mafiosi and this shows how the new technologies are nothing more than the expression of a cultural and organizational logic of the mafia phenomenon to which they refer.

The other aspect to take into consideration for a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon seems to be that of the economic flows that support the mafias today. The mafia most tied to new sources of income, such as betting shops, computer fraud, is certainly well aware of the opportunities and risks in using these tools.
The mafias, instead of traditional economic flows, such as drugs, prostitution, have much more difficulty understanding the complexity of these tools but still appreciate the fact of being visible on digital platforms. Although in these markets the use of platforms that use end-to-end encryption, such as Telegram, should not be underestimated, which offer spaces of freedom in communications even to small-time criminals such as drug dealers or loan sharks.
It can therefore be said that looking at the mafias through the lens of social media paints a picture of the phenomenon full of shadows, not uniform, varied and therefore more complex.

Are there already case studies on the topic based on this method? What are they and what results have they produced? If not, what tools should be used to carry out such a study? What would be the method to follow?

Prof. Davide Bennato told us about an interesting application of the social network analysis technique for the creation of territorial networks that use digital media information to reconstruct power networks within mafia enclaves. He also illustrated how using indirect indicators, such as some studies carried out on the neomelodic phenomenon, whose music industry is very often, although not always, contiguous to the criminal one, can provide other interesting analysis tools.
The insistence of online mafias in various forms can provide us with new and cutting-edge tools to map the power networks on which they are based today.

Another topic of our interview was inspired by the initiative “Map of Intolerance”, a project conceived by Vox – Italian Observatory on Rights, in collaboration with the University of Milan, the University of Bari, La Sapienza in Rome and the Department of Sociology of the Catholic University of Milan. The project used computational tools to analyze specific keywords to draw a map of online hate in the Italian territory.
Prof. Bennato explained to us what such research consists of and how this type of analysis could be adapted to the mafia phenomenon to try to recreate a map of online mafia, which could be a useful tool for third sector associations such as Giosef Italy but also for investigators.

As Prof. Bennato explained to us in this interview, there are many tools that could be activated to create new frontiers of contrast and counter-narrative to the mafia phenomenon. We have the opportunity to exploit the “naivety” in the use of these tools of a large portion of the mafia community to enter the network and start to slowly steal it.

For this reason, we hope that our research is only the beginning of a more structured conversation, where data scientists like Prof. Davide Bennato and members of the judiciary and law enforcement can sit at the same table to understand together how to use their respective information to obtain new and timely information.

The mafias are constantly evolving, together with our society, but sometimes they do so without much awareness, leaving behind crumbs, cookies, our task is to collect them, study them and follow them to the source of the problem, to try, together, to defeat it forever.