"Mafias in the age of social media" is the first report on the links between mafia and social media. An entirely new way to build a strong following, especially among the very young users of the Internet.

In his opening remarks, the President of the Magna Grecia Foundation Nino Foti said that "We need to build the concept of citizenship anew; no government has invested in educating people to become citizens. Although the NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) has brought an unprecedented amount of money to Italy, it still struggles to reach the territories. Civil society is fragmented and disorganized, unlike crime which, in turn, takes over. To defeat the mafias, we must combine territory control with training. There is still time to make a change, this is the mission of the Magna Grecia Foundation".

During the event, several speeches were given on the issue at hand.

The Prosecutor of Catanzaro Nicola Gratteri, who has been under guard for more than 30 years, remarked that "The mafias today are camouflaged in the social and economic fabric but if they did not have the support of the ruling classes they would cease to exist, they would be merely common crime. On the other hand, the mafias need both territory and popular consensus to thrive. Today a boss is an entrepreneur and as such he has his own marketing campaigns, hence, publicity is a key element. This is how the 'Ndrangheta rules in Calabria and as of today it has already conquered a quarter of Milan."

"Criminal organizations simply need to Google a family to find out what they did. Violence is used only in case of necessity, there are other methods to control the territory in Italy - underlined Antonio Nicaso, writer and historian of the mafias - Without the external contribution of state apparatuses there is no mafia. Let's think about the Narcos, they have YouTube channels where they also publish the beheadings of opponents. They nip law enforcement attempts in the bud because their military superiority is clear."

"The business of the 'Ndrangheta is in the North – warned writer and former Chief of Police Piernicola Silvis – Today the second and third generations of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta families are managers who studied at Bocconi. Those who say that mafias no longer exist because they don't kill anyone don't understand that they are more dangerous than ever. They don't kill because they don't even need to do so." "Mafias are a brand and social media is their new propaganda tool," said Marcello Ravveduto, professor at the University of Salerno. Twitter is their news agency, Instagram is their magazine, Facebook is their generalist TV and TikTok is their reality show. The bosses’ scions are the mafia influencers and they have their own soundtrack, trap music."

"Wealth must be flaunted and the favourite channel of young Camorra members is Tik Tok, where commemorative videos for the murdered grow ever popular," added Luigi Sabino, a journalist for the daily newspaper Il Mattino. The funerals of bosses are celebrated on Tik Tok". "We have to fight the fascinating and persuasive representations of the mafias, the mythologization that turns mobsters into legends," said Manuela Bertone, professor at the Université Côte d'Azur in Nice. "Mobsters have always been interested in storytelling – said Salvo Palazzolo of the daily newspaper Repubblica – It is no coincidence that the first illustrious murder in Palermo was that of a journalist. It is the only anti-mafia that the bosses take notice of. The one that's rooted in the territory."

"In 2020, the turnover of counterfeiting in Italy exceeded 6 billion and 70% of the market is on WhatsApp and WeChat," said the President of the Supervisory Board of the Magna Grecia Foundation Antonello Colosimo, former Deputy High Commissioner for the fight against counterfeiting. The first contact is there, from then on, the currency used switches to bitcoin. Many people are not aware that the largest share of sales goes to terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda."

"For entrepreneurs in the North, the 'Ndrangheta is a reliable brand with which to do business," said Cesare Giuzzi of the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, "It no longer even needs to be scary, many public officials have been bribed with an escort."