Channel 4 has ordered a 10-part series from Crackit TV (Crime Scene Cleaners, Prime Suspect: Hunting the Predators) exploring ten chilling true crime cases that all feature social media.
Each episode unravels a shocking case where social media has played a key role in murder, stalking or fraud. Covering cases in both the UK and the US, Social Media Monsters will feature interviews with victims, their friends and family, and those with intimate knowledge of each case – providing first-hand accounts of how dark and twisted online behaviour has resulted in devastating real-life consequences.
The series will also hear from a range of experts, including police involved in the investigations, digital forensics specialists and criminal psychologists, to help dissect each of the crimes and provide insight into the motives of the perpetrators.
The first episode of Social Media Monsters explores the brutal murder of 15-year-old Holly Newton in Hexham, Northumberland in 2023. Last year, 17-year-old Logan MacPhail was handed a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, and it was revealed that he had hacked Holly’s social media accounts and bombarded her with messages before tracking her movements and later launching a sustained knife attack on her.
Other cases investigated in the series include the various stalking campaigns inflicted by Manchester-based social media consultant Sam Wall – including one four-year long torrent of harassment on a man she’d met for just 30 seconds – as well as the murder of Mississippi native Carson Sistrunk by a woman he’d first met on Snapchat.
Elaine Hackett, CEO of Crackit TV, said: “As social media has evolved over the years, the dangers of this medium and its use by criminals has grown to become one of the biggest concerns of the modern age. As countries around the world continue to grapple with how to protect citizens online, this documentary series shines a chilling spotlight on the depths that some perpetrators will go to use social media for nefarious means.
“Combining victim impact accounts with expert analysis, the series sensitively examines some of the very worst examples of online behaviour – and gives a voice to the victims who have been so cruelly affected by it.”
Social Media Monsters launches on Channel 4 on Monday 6 October.
Jon Creamer
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