The Magna Grecia Foundation presented the report "The Mafia in the Digital Age" at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.

On the second day in New York, which saw the Magna Grecia Foundation as the protagonist, a press conference was held at the Headquarters of the Italian Cultural Institute to present the report "The Mafia in the Digital Age", edited by Marcello Ravveduto, professor of Public and digital history at the Universities of Salerno and Modena-Reggio Emilia.

This research has been carried out in recent months by the Magna Grecia Foundation itself and has set itself the goal of defining the contours and contents of the ways in which today’s mafias communicate in the digital world. In particular, the study analyzed more than 50 Facebook profiles, 30 Instagram profiles, 1,500 videos between YouTube and TikTok and two and a half million Tweets, going over the widespread use that mafias make of digital tools to promote their activities.

The event, which was moderated by the deputy director of TG2, Fabrizio Frullani, was opened by the President of FMG, Nino Foti, who highlighted that "through social media, organized crime creates a parallel world that sends messages to those who are in the suburbs and who are attracted by a universal language, with the creation of disvalues that are opposed to values. We aim at social and human capital to prepare young people so that they have awareness in the use of social media to distinguish good and evil and rediscover their roots in contrast to social media".

Professor Antonio Nicaso, an expert on organized crime at Queen's College in Canada, added that "mafias are the product of the ruling classes. If we think of the Mafia, we think of omertà and a code of silence; actually this is not entirely so, because it possesses important communication tools, for example by coming into contact with political dissidents, obedience, and not silence, is generated. Mafiosi are therefore skilled communicators, and have always had a jargon which can be simply represented by a swagger that communicates their social status. With this report, we understand the real evolution of organized crime, because today we communicate through social media. Tik Tok is a sort of reality show, where there are new forms of aesthetics of power and wealth and the subliminal message that comes through is 'I made it through illicit activities'. Faced with a new reality that asserts itself without physical violence, police forces are trying to understand the new context and the language with which criminal organizations move."

Nicola Gratteri, Chief Prosecutor of Naples, highlighted that "The mafiosi have now abandoned Facebook and are instead systematically present on Tik Tok. They boast their wealth in order to enlist the poor in their ranks. It's a big deception and neo-melodic singers appeal to those in favor of the Camorra. Rappers show up in their videos with machine guns and pistols or, listening to the content of their songs, drugs, violence and mafias are celebrated. This phenomenon must be studied and countered, not only from a judicial standpoint, but also from a cultural and social one. The new mafia-like generations are careful and know how to make themselves understood by insiders and multinationals prefer economic interest to the education and safety of the new generations".

Prosecutor Gratteri then added: "The Italian Police used to have superior know-how on the matter; unfortunately today this supremacy no longer exists and politics must make more investments for the development of technology to tackle these new forms of organized crime."

Arthur J. Gajarsa, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (R.E.T.), concluded the lecture with a talk that focused on data, calling it "the soul of commerce.  Organized crime tries to extract and steal sensitive information, using all the aspects at their disposal, and in particular cryptocurrencies. We must bear in mind that the use of these resources for illegal purposes is very difficult to sustain and there are many legal limitations that prevent us from taking action."

Finally, Judge Gajarsa underlined: "The Magna Grecia Foundation, with this report, has made a significant endeavor because it has understood how important it is to raise awareness on this issue at a political and legislative level. We need new laws for those who work to undermine organized crime. The platforms must be controlled with much more stringent regulations that do not currently exist and we must put in place tools to fight this war and not allow the collapse of the system that must be based on freedom."