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Posting a photo or video on social media today could represent the decree of your death, depending on what sign or gesture you make, as the person could be mistaken for a faction member and have their death decreed by the rival criminal faction.
This situation, imposed by criminal factions throughout Brazil, has caused anger and fear in people who are not part of organized crime. A simple victory or legal sign, made with the fingers, and the victim can be mistaken for a member, for example, and be executed by the rival faction.
“Criminal organizations throughout Brazil, no matter the structure, no matter the size, as a rule they have a whole set of large-volume actions, as they connect not only in Brazil, but internationally. They use communication codes for interaction between their members”, explained delegate Robert Alencar in an interview with ContilNet.
Robert highlighted that excessive exposure on citizens’ social networks and, mainly, the use of gestures and signs, which are often similar to those of criminal organizations, can lead to some type of specific situation, like these two that happened in Rio Branco and in several other cities in Brazil.
“Delegate Robert Alencar warns about the dangers of exposure on social media and the use of gestures that can be confused with symbols of criminal factions/Photo: Reproduction
The delegate referred to two cases of execution that were associated with videos and photos on the victims’ social networks.
In March 2024, professional football player Thiago Oséas Tavares da Silva, aged 18, was kidnapped and shot after participating in a party in Travessa do Recreio, in the Santa Inês neighborhood, in the Second District region of Rio Branco.
According to the complaint, the motive for the crime was a photograph found on Thiago’s cell phone, which showed a symbol of a rival faction. The criminal group interpreted the gesture as a show of support for a rival faction, which would have motivated the execution, but the friends said it was just a V, for victory.
Another case was that of teenager Junior Henrique, a student at Escola Antônia Fernandes, in the Santa Inês neighborhood, but who lived in the Amapá region. The young man was leaving school when he was called by members of a faction that dominates the Santa Inês neighborhood, to talk about a live that the boy did and which appeared making the “2” symbol with his fingers.
Thiago Oséas, a young football player, lost his life after being mistaken for a member of a criminal faction because of a photo on social media/Photo: Reproduction
In addition to the possible death ordered, other criminal actions may be carried out against the victims, such as extortion, blackmail and threats, by members of criminal factions.
“The Civil Police, in general and not just here in Acre, advises that people try to avoid, in addition to excessive exposure, the use of gestures or signs of this nature in videos, posts and photos,” warned Robert.
A video widely circulated on social media shows an individual covering his face and informing which signs and gestures are prohibited by the non-crime population, under penalty of suffering the consequences if they publish on their social media.
The Civil Police, through the Specialized Police Station, has been investigating in an attempt to identify who these media are and where they are leaked from.
“We carry out all monitoring work and preventive actions that are carried out jointly by the Criminal Organization Repression Department – DRACO, the Civil Police Intelligence Department and also the national cyber operations laboratory. The cyber world is not a lawless land. We were able to track it”, highlighted Robert Alencar.
Even with investigations, the police warn that the best solution is prevention.
Apparently harmless gestures can be interpreted as symbols of criminal factions. Police warn of the risks of sharing them on social media/Photo: Reproduction
“Mainly the type of video you post is a video with an educational tone, if it is a video with an ironic tone, and all of this is analyzed. Not just the gesture itself”, he warned. “There is little care in the cyber world, what is said and what signals are used, because it can generate repercussions. The most important thing is that people are aware that they have to act in accordance with acceptable social rules and avoid these consequences, which is not a circumstance that is beyond the state’s control.”
In case of complaints, the citizen must go to the nearest police station and register a police report.
“The police have been doing this work, monitoring, but we cannot keep track of everything that happens in conversations and in the private world of social networks and messaging apps, so it is important that people contact the police station so that they can be appropriate measures have been taken to avoid the worst, as happened in the two cases mentioned”, concluded Robert Alencar.
