WhatsApp Group Chats for Tackling Organised Crime in Mexico: The New Neighbourhood Watch?

Latin America is currently the world’s most violent region with homicide rates now at levels considered epidemic. Alongside the rise in violence, the region has become one of the world’s most digitally connected, and now some governments and civil societies are exploring the potential of technology to provide innovative and dynamic solutions to violence. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasing in popularity in the region as a citizen led solution to safety and security. This paper examines the rise in popularity of the mobile app WhatsApp as a citizen to citizen intervention for preventing violent crime. The paper explores the ethical issues associated with community group chats for tackling violent crime and to what extent they can be classed as an alternative approach to tackling violent crime or whether they are facilitating vigilante behaviour. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with individuals who participate in a closed Whatsapp community crime group in the State of Mexico, an iterative coding process was undertaken to produce themes extrapolated from the data. Themes produced included perceptions of functionality and scope of the group; disagreements in content; police failings in adopting social media; speed of content spreading; increased awareness of local crime; and increased trust. The study found that participants in the group were unsure as to whether the community whatsapp group could be used for anything above petty street crime but despite this continued to use it as a resource for more major criminal activities. The study found that the community group appears to be strengthening social capital and trust within the community which could therefore be diminishing the reach of organised crime in certain vulnerable municipalities.