• afronaut@slrpnk.net
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    1 month ago

    I’m going to be honest, I’m suspicious of every single ‘pedophile hunter’. They are going after a demographic that people will not rush to defend, even if innocent.

    Also, these ‘hunters’ probably have something shady going on in their own lives, and this is some form of projection that they also profit off of.

    • Senseless@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      I wouldn’t even be surprised if a bunch of them are pedophiles themselves. Projection and such.

    • Grizzlyboy@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      In Norway last year we had a case where 5 16-19 yo set up a sextrap for a guy in his 40s.

      The teens claimed he’s a pedo, beat him, filmed it and posted it online.

      All of the “pedohunters” involved were found guilty on all accounts. The guy is free and getting a big pay out from the teens.

      It’s really unfortunate, but these kinds of people aren’t in it to prevent child abuse. They’re in it for themselves.

      • KneeTitts@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        but these kinds of people aren’t in it to prevent child abuse. They’re in it for themselves

        you just described all republican politicians

  • chetradley@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Lots of people in the comments are failing to see the issue with this, so allow me to illustrate. Fair warning, this will not be an easy read.

    So let’s imagine you really hate trans people, gay people, and liberals. Unfortunately for you, none of these are crimes (yet), so you can’t just go around assaulting and killing these people indiscriminately, as much as you’d like to. So what are you going to do?

    Well, the best hate campaigns start with a shared enemy, and nobody is more hated than a child predator. Best of all, you can do pretty much whatever you want to them with no recourse. What are they going to do, call the police? Nobody is going to speak out against what you’re doing, because if they do, you can just say that if they don’t support you, then they must be defending child predators!

    Now that we have a precedent for violence, it’s time to expand our scope a bit. Since hunting pedophiles is a-ok, now you just need to label anyone you don’t like a pedophile. You could say gay and trans people are pedophiles and groomers. And again, if anyone opposes you, just call them a groomer too!

    But maybe that’s not enough for you. No, you want to make sure that you can target anyone who disagrees with you. Well good news, because you can just join a group of people who believe that anyone who dislikes Donald Trump is a deep state pedophile. You don’t even need evidence anymore, and there’s a good chance the cops will be on your side! Happy hunting!

    Seriously though, this vigilante “justice” should not be celebrated. Yes, we need to take child predators off the streets, but there is a process for that. Denying anyone due process opens the door to denying it to everyone.

    • snaggen@programming.dev
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      1 month ago

      Well, I get you are trying to state that MAGA people are pedofiles, and I am not here to stop you from that. But you also assume they catch actual pedofiles. However, there are cases where they have contacted people with an intellectual disability, and then you cannot be really sure the person really is sexually in to children, since with enough pushing you can get such persons to agree to a meeting anyway… just because you pushed. Regardless of how awful the crime is, we cannot accept vigilantes.

      • j0ester@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        The word pedophile is so weirdly used. If an older man or lady meets a 16 year old… their technically not one, but in this day of age… they would be consider one to society…but they would be consider a Sex Offender. Depending on Level 1 or 2… all depends on what they did and if their state will think they will re-offend or not. Most Level 1’s do not.

        • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          It’s not weirdly used. Society always determines what is appropriate. We’ve decided, as a society, that humans cannot consent until 18. And any sex without consent is rape.

          That said, what is weird is that we conflate pedo and child rapist. You’re describing child rapists.

          • El Barto@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Get the fuck out, man.

            Teenagers fuck each other all the time, consensually.

            So there goes your argument about people younger than 18 being incapable of giving consent.

            For the record, I’m in my 40s and I wouldn’t go out with anyone below the age of 30, before someone accuses me of anything I ain’t.

            I hate predators as much as the next person, but let’s not go over to the other extreme.

            • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Children can’t consent. Teenagers fucking is without consent. Their brains, on the average, are not capable of making that level of decision.

              But that doesn’t make it illegal.

              • El Barto@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                What are you a fucking religious nutjob? Or worse, a fucking AI?

                I’m doing pointing out how moronic and ignorant this stand is.

                • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  I didn’t say they shouldn’t fuck, feisty pants. I said they can’t consent. Consent is a legal term.

                  They can and should fuck as much as they want. They just can’t provide consent.

              • futatorius@lemm.ee
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                1 month ago

                Teenagers fucking is without consent. Their brains, on the average, are not capable of making that level of decision.

                What an absolute crock.

                That’s the theory behind the law, OK, but the notion that someone is incapable of consent the day before their 18th birthday, but fully capable the following day, is manifestly stupid. I’ve raised three kids to adulthood. All of them had sexual relations before they were 18 and there’s nothing wrong with any of them. Don’t let religious nuts and the pathologically undersexed make your laws, it won’t work out.

                • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  That’s the theory behind the law

                  Exactly my point.

                  Consent is a legal concept, not a moral one.

                  There’s nothing wrong with teens fucking each other. It’s just not “with consent”. Consent is agreement between adults of sound mind. They are not adults.

              • Microw@lemm.ee
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                1 month ago

                The issue here is that most countries define the age of consent differently. I think we can agree that when a 16 year old agrees to sexual contact with another 16 year old, the dynamic is different than if they agree to it with a 40 year old. Absolutely. But that does not mean that the 16 year old doesnt understand what they are doing.

                • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  Indeed. It’s based on each society. That said, I remember myself at 16. I in no way understood the risk/reward of my choices. It probably took me to 25 to be what I would consider fully conscious.

  • Allero@lemmy.today
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    1 month ago

    There’s one more angle to this - apart from the raise in vigilante violence and messing up with police operations which both are very valid.

    Just as we stopped getting TV feeds constantly equating pedophiles to child molesters, those guys stepped in to fill the void.

    Pedophiles are not inherently child molesters. This kind of equation is not only wrong, it also adds to promoting dangerous behaviors among them.

    Plenty of pedophiles will never abuse a single child, knowing full well it is dangerous and harmful for minors to be engaged in such relationships. However, the more we equate pedophiles to predators, the more people, especially in the emotionally vulnerable groups like teen pedophiles, will actually accept themselves in this role. Among those who stands against this anyway, plenty will become suicidal, not seeing an option to live a non-offending life.

    Current methods of therapy aimed at reducing child abuse rates go very strongly on this - pedophiles should face message of them not being inherently dangerous, not the message of them being an immediate and imminent danger. Not only this is scientifically correct, it is actually useful in making these people safer for others.

    • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      That’s an interesting and reasonable take.
      I’m actually surprised you are not down voted to oblivion!

      • Allero@lemmy.today
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        1 month ago

        Guess this is what happens when you meet real people online who are not artificially enraged - a productive conversation!

  • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Didn’t an entire TV show get into some serious hot water for doing this sort of thing which resulted in someone committing suicide while filming an episode? These people are potentially putting themselves in serious danger if they corner a pedo who feels like they have nowhere to run or anything left to lose.

    • Krono@lemmy.today
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      1 month ago

      corner a pedo

      And since these are internet vigilante kids with no oversight, they will inevitably corner some non-pedos too.

      Put yourself in that situation- a couple teenagers with cameras approach you on the street and start accusing you of some of the sickest crimes imaginable. Even though the accusation is false, this has the potential to ruin your career, your relationships, your entire life.

      I’m not sure how anyone would respond, or should respond, but I can definitely see how people might resort to violence when falsely accused of this horrible shit on camera.

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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        1 month ago

        Exactly. Vigilante justice is not the solution here, it’s only going to get a lot of people hurt.