Some have dubbed 2024 as “The Year of the Groomers” as pedophilic accusations and allegations are thrown left and right. Synnibear03, a significant Youtuber a part of the art community with over 500k subscribers, has recently been uncovered to have engaged in the sexual assault of minor, who was only 14 at the time of the incidents. LowTierGod, a widely popular Twitch streamer, has been criticized for his previous relationship with a minor while he was in his thirties. Kris Tyson, a major associate and friend of the beloved Mr. Beast channel, was discovered to be grooming and sending explicit messages to children as young as 13. What all of these individuals have in common is that they are Internet influencers who have used their influence to prey on minors. While influential pedophiles are not a new thing, there has been a recent, sudden spike in these reports of predatory behavior. This brings up an important question: why is this the case?

This is due to a variety of factors, particularly the increase of investigative journalism on Youtube. Youtube investigators and video essayists have risen in popularity due to their ease of production and the ability to compact a ton of information into an easily digestible format. This has inspired Youtube investigators to dig deeper in their research. However, this comes with uncovering more scandalous and predatory behavior within different communities. In conjunction with this, people have become much more comfortable with coming forward and sharing their experiences in the aftermath of the MeToo movement (. Overall, there has not been an increase of predators on the Youtube platform, but an increase in people interested in finding them.

While the proportion of the issue is overblown, this is not to say predatory behavior is not an issue on the internet. However, it is a testament to the potential dangers of the internet to those susceptible to this behavior, especially children.