Who Stands to Blame? Digital Platforms as Enablers of Insidious Acts

Abstract

Objective: Understand how digital platforms can be used to render insidious acts, and what roles each actor plays within such ecosystem. Methods: We conducted a non-participant observation of 32 videos and thousands of comments on the YouTube platform on the context of digital predation of minors. Data were codified through thematic analysis. Results: We ended up unraveling six major enablers — i.e., (1) frailty, (2) bur-dening, (3) ineffective oversight, (4) unaccountability, (5) sense of impunity, and (6) digital naivety, at three levels: organizational, institutional, and individual. Conclusions: This research complements the theory of the digital platforms ecosystem by framing the ‘dark’ side of interactions and illustrating six building blocks that surround the insidious acts occurring within social media platforms. The proposed framework helps us understand how each of these actors facilitates the occurrence of insidious acts through the so-called enablers. Practical and social contributions were also provided.