With the extended use of social media among the youngest, dangerous and illegal practices emerge such as Happy Slapping (happy slap), which consists of physically, verbally or sexually assaulting a person to publish it on social media and gain "likes".
A few days ago, the National Police together with fundaciónSOL have launched the campaign We are their Best Network to raise awareness among the population and protect children and adolescents in the digital environment. With this, they aim to sensitize the youngest about digital violence and prevent its normalization.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the Happy Slapping emerged in the United Kingdom in 2005 and is a violent phenomenon that has spread in Spain during recent years.
What exactly does Happy Slapping consist of?
This practice consists of recording physical, verbal or sexual aggressions and disseminating them on the internet through social networks or messaging applications like WhatsApp, which makes the attack quickly travel the network and go viral at breakneck speed.
The objective of this social media post is to gain popularity through likes (likes) and comments.
This causes the assaulted person to suffer a double victimization, since on the one hand they suffer the aggression itself and, on the other, they face a public humiliation that can be prolonged over time and that can cause psychological sequelae.
According to a study by the State Attorney General's Office Report 2025, in 2024 there were 12,563 crimes of injury committed by minors, which represents an 8% increase compared to 2022. Furthermore, in that same year, 120 cases of homicide or attempted homicide committed by minors were initiated, an 18.8% increase compared to 2023. The Prosecutor's Office attributes this evolution to group dynamics and an escalation in the seriousness of violent behaviors among young people.
Recommendations
Given this practice, the main tool is prevention, which requires a joint involvement of families, educational centers, and society. The National Police and fundaciónSOL launch a series of recommendations to prevent or improve the behavior of boys, girls, and adolescents:
- Do not look away: talk to minors about the violence circulating on social media.
- Educate in digital empathy and responsibility so that they do not get used to seeing it as something “normal.”
- Help them identify that behind every video there is a real victim, with emotional consequences and legal implications.
- Make it clear that recording or sharing an aggression is also participating in it.
- Reinforce the message that not recording, not spreading, and not giving “likes” is an active way to protect.
- Avoid continuous exposure to violent content to prevent desensitization and the normalization of violence.
- Report the content to the platforms so they take it down.
- Always report these situations and cut off their chain of dissemination.
- Save possible digital evidence before reporting the content to the platform in case of considering a judicial complaint.
