YouTube violence jails New Zealand teenagers
Beat him up - film it - post online - get arrested - oops
Two idiotic kiwi teenagers have been taken into custody after putting the boots to a 16-year old boy, filming themselves and posting the footage on the internet. The pair committed the crime because they wanted something to post on YouTube , and beating up a classmate apparently seemed like the best option.
It's certainly not the first time that acts of violence on YouTube have led to the arrest of the perpetrators. But it's the first time that anyone has committed this kind of offence just to post it online.
"This is the first incident that I am aware of where it was specifically arranged then recorded then posted. It appears to have been posted for two reasons. One to give the offenders some notoriety or street cred... but more importantly to humiliate the victim," arresting Sergeant Dave Greig said.
"We have been able to establish that the whole thing was premeditated. That basically it was always intended that it would be videoed. It was always intended that it would be posted on YouTube," he said.
Idiocy
How the boys ever thought they would ever get away with it is not known; posting evidence of assault on the internet amounts to a guilty plea in court.
Unfortunately, this sort of cyber-bullying is becoming more frequent all over the world. The French are combating the problem with laws that prohibits anyone other than accredited members of the press from filming acts of violence .
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
James was part of the TechRadar editorial team for eight years up until 2015 and now works in a senior position for TR's parent company Future. An experienced Content Director with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), E-commerce Optimization, Journalism, Digital Marketing, and Social Media. James can do it all.