Drugs, Gangs, and Social Media in Provincial England

Abstract One summer in a small English town, a group of youths fatally attacked another over his affiliation to a rival ‘gang’ before posting the footage on social media as a warning. The case shocked the small town, and highlighted the presence of gangs outside of the major urban areas that tend to be prioritised in the literature. When these areas are considered within the literature, it is most often through the paradigm of county lines, with the focus on the ‘invasive’ groups engaging in this trade, often overlooking the role of ‘home grown’ crime groups. Subsequently, this research seeks to answer the following questions: What do street gangs in the United Kingdom look like outside major urban areas and how do these groups use social media? Through the completion of a series of in-depth interviews, that were complemented with analysis of secondary sources including non-public and police files in ‘Countyshire’ (pseudonym) this paper reveals a number of key findings. Gangs outside major urban areas are just as sophisticated and criminally motivated as their urban counterparts, and that through attempts to control the drugs trade, they begin to display dimensions of rudimentary criminal governance. Additionally, this paper through a focus on social media, has shown how these technologies have benefitted gangs, with expressive use facilitating and establishing reputations for violence and success. Social media use has also been instrumental, allowing direct engagement in the drugs trade and the recruitment of young people into and eventual control within gangs.