'The Dr Phil Show' exposes dark side of vigilante 'pedophile hunters' as a form of bullying for extortion and online entertainment
In the previous episode of the celebrated daytime show, ‘The Dr. Phil Show’, the host discussed a “controversial form of vigilantism that law enforcement is just not in favor of” -- ordinary men who have ordinary jobs during the day, turn into “pedophile hunters” at night. The show featured men like Tony, Josh and Jesse who bait and lure potential child molesters to a certain location, and once there, film and live-stream their interaction on Facebook, thereby naming and shaming them on social media.
Among the many problems with such forms of vigilante justice -- like interfering with ongoing police investigations -- is the fact that these vigilantes can most certainly be wrong about the person they bait and shame. In Thursday’s episode of ‘The Dr. Phil Show’, the adverse effects of this phenomenon were examined.
A 2019 Quartz report found these so-called pedophile hunters “have little regard for due process or expectations of privacy,” and that their sting operations, live-streamed to an engaged audience, become a spectacle, a form of entertainment. The lines between vigilante activism and bullying blur too quickly.
Often acting on throes of rage and a false sense of justice, vigilantes make mistakes that cause irreparable damage. In cases where the stakes are this high -- child sexual abuse can never be taken lightly -- a misplaced sense of justice can override logic and turn into bullying, something that can destroy lives.
A former such pedophile hunter called Shane, who claims to have jump-started the movement in the U.S., now believes it needs to stop. Speaking on the daytime show, Shane said, “Everything that is being glorified online about exposing child predators is wrong.”
He further said, “This movement is an egotistically-driven movement and it needs to stop… This is so wrong, what they are doing. Because there is no police involvement.”
He claimed that he had taught Tony, Josh and Jesse all that they knew. But they had now lost their ways. He even claimed they were using this to extort people now.
It’s not just Shane who has a problem with this “movement”. Law enforcement authorities are vehemently against it. Former FBI detective, law enforcement officer and chief criminal investigator Steve Kardian said on the show that these pedophile hunters should leave investigating possible child predators to the professionals.
“There’s no law enforcement agency in the country that wants you doing this -- nor wants to work with you -- because you’re destroying their investigations,” he said. “You’ve got the rule of law. You’ve got the rule of evidence. You’ve got to prepare for the District Attorney’s office. You’ve got to prepare for a grand jury. None of that can be accomplished by what you’re doing.”
‘The Dr. Phil Show’ airs weekdays on various stations at 3 p.m. ET.