Violent gangs use street slang to outwit social media firms

SOCIAL media firms are failing to detect gang videos because they don’t understand “youth language”, the head of the UK’S biggest children’s charity has said.

Javed Khan, Barnardo’s chief executive, said although platforms like Facebook and Youtube were using computer algorithms to root out provocative material such as “drill music”, quickly evolving street language and coded communication meant criminals and gangs were keeping ahead.

He cited as an example “baiting the skets”, a term to describe the way social media is exploited to destroy a young person’s self-esteem or coerce them into a gang.

Another was “plugging”, the shocking practice where gangs compel a young boy or girl to carry drugs internally with the risk that if caught by rivals, the drugs are forcibly removed. Other words he believes can bypass the systems include skengs (guns), borras (knives), nittys (drug addicts) neeks (drug dealers), live corn (ammunition), crash corn (to bust or shoot your gun), hooters (shooters), dumpies (shotguns), spinners (revolvers), and eastmen (east Londoners).

“This is dangerous because social media companies ... or the police may not be aware of the context and may not flag up the content,” Mr Khan said.

He added: “Tech companies are simply not doing enough to protect vulnerable children and need to take action now to ensure dangerous or inflammatory content is removed.”

Almost 80 per cent of Barnardo’s front-line staff believe that platforms like Youtube are being exploited to coerce, control or manipulate children as young as eight for drug running, knife attacks and sex trafficking.