This Monday, March 1, before the criminal court of Haute-Garonne in Toulouse, four men are tried for gang rape, the video of which was broadcast on social networks. The alleged attackers had been found in particular thanks to the report of the video by Internet users.
A closed-door trial opens on Monday: that of four men accused of the gang rape of a young woman in the parking lot of a nightclub. On the night of September 15 to 16, 2018, the victim, a young girl described as "vulnerable" by her lawyer, was assaulted by several men at the end of a party when she was not in full possession of her means . One of the witnesses records and broadcasts the video on Snapchat.
Internet users quickly report the video to the Pharos platform. The gendarmerie then asks all those who have seen this video to do not relay it, so as not to clutter up the procedure. Slanderous denunciations are launched on social media, but four of the alleged assailants are eventually found. The verdict is due on Friday and the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.
Report this content to fight against its dissemination
Pharos is the acronym used to denote the Platform for Harmonization, Analysis, Cross-checking and Guidance of Reports. This website was created in 2009 by the French Government to allow Internet users to report illegal content and behavior spotted online. If you think you have come across a video or content on the internet and social networks that is deemed illegal, you can easily report them to Pharos. The investigators of this platform will analyze the content and trigger an investigation if necessary. However, the responsibility for ultimately removing the content lies with the host.
Fighting against impunity on the Internet is also the perspective of the "Stop Fisha" collective, launched against accounts that relay videos of a sexual nature, disseminated without consent by the victims. If you come across such content on the internet, don't share, like, retweet, but flag it.