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Overview:
Haiti’s gang leaders exploit social media as a powerful tool, broadcasting threats, paying influencers, and expanding control while inciting violence and displacing thousands. The once masked, enigmatic figures now dominate social media, make regular, in-person appearances, flaunting criminal exploits and addressing thousands of followers directly.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — In a livestream just last month on the video-hosting social media platform TikTok, gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier issued a threatening command: journalists were now “targets.” Standing defiantly before the camera, Barbecue called for his followers to capture four prominent radio reporters and popular show hosts.
“Consider journalists as enemies, punishable by death if they oppose us.” the post said.
“Journalists defending the elite classes needed to be silenced.”
In a striking display of new-age power, gangs across Haiti have been taking over an unlikely medium: social media. — For the past few months TikTok has been their focus. The gang leaders of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition are organizing TikTok live sessions to talk about their abductions, flaunting threats, and broadcasting demands that reach thousands of followers — from fearful citizens to even potential recruits. The live broadcasts are more than digital boasting; they signal the deepening grip of organized crime on a nation already reeling from instability.
With the use of social media amplifying gang threats like Barbecue’s, these attacks underscore a deeper issue: without an informed public, the pillars of Haitian democracy stand at risk. The intensifying security crisis has left large parts of the capital and other regions effectively off-limits to journalists, who once held a critical role in reporting in these areas and safeguarding transparency. Increasingly, they are silenced or forced into self-censorship out of fear for their safety.
This reality has raised alarms among both local and international rights groups, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which called for urgent protective measures. They warn that unchecked threats against the press only deepen the fragility of Haitian democracy.
“The threats against these journalists are unacceptable,” states the Relatoría Especial para la Libertad Expresión (RELE_CIDH) on their X account, calling for immediate and enhanced protection for them.
#Haïti: Les menaces contre ces journalistes sont inacceptables. La @RELE_CIDH appelle à une protection immédiate et renforcée pour eux.
La #LibertéDeLaPresse est fondamentale pour surmonter la crise multidimensionnelle que traverse le pays. https://t.co/J6M2fiRp6w
— Relatoría Especial p/la Libertad Expresión (CIDH) (@RELE_CIDH) October 22, 2024
“Freedom of the press is essential to overcoming the multidimensional crisis facing the country.”
Income fueled by TikTok and TikTok influencers
Cherizier ‘Barbecue’, who controls swaths of Port-au-Prince, and other leaders like Johnson “Izo” André, have turned the platform into an unconventional stage for their ruthless operations. One afraid to show their faces, over time, the now unmasked, enigmatic figures now make regular appearances. This public-facing strategy has enabled Haitian gangs to consolidate power and intimidate on a level never seen before.
“Digital platforms have become an extension of gang dominance,” says Pierre Espérance, director of Haiti’s National Network for the Defense of Human Rights.
According to Espérance, social media’s unrestricted reach has proven instrumental in amplifying gang intimidation tactics. “They understand the power of the media, and they use it to instill fear and recruit,” Espérance said.
But the videos serve another purpose: income. TikTok, in particular, allows users to earn money by accumulating followers and receiving gifts from viewers. Some gang leaders in Haiti have been seen in TikTok live sessions with popular Haitian influencers, where they promote their criminal activities under the guise of “social contributions” and “revolution.”
Recently, on TikTok, a gang leader known as ‘Tilapli’ gifted several Haitian influencers through the app’s gifting feature, sparking an outcry among internet users. Mendel Raphael, who is based in the U.S. and is also known as “Tati Mendel,” is one such influencer.
“These threats against the press, perpetrated by armed groups operating in the country, constitute a blatant violation of freedom of expression and the right to information, two essential pillars of a democratic society.”
Human rights defense organization, Défenseurs Plus.
He disclosed in a live broadcast that he received gifts from the gang member but also disclosed that other TikTokers, the majority also U.S.-based, such as Commandant, Parrola, Belle-Enfant, and Trapalman, were also sent gifts from Tilapli. The influencers named here did not respond to The Haitian Times’ request for comment to see how they feel about being sent gifts and if they had cashed out these gifts. Influencers do not need to be aware the gift is going to be sent to them for another user to openly send them a gift.
The TikTok app offers virtual gifts ranging from low-cost options like the “Tennis” and “Daisies,” priced at $0.01 to buy, to high-end gifts such as the “Lion” ($398.95) and “TikTok Universe” ($562.48). When creators are sent these gifts they have the option of cashing out the gift for money when withdrawn but will only get half the value of the gift as TikTok keeps half of the profits. TikTok has not responded to The Haitian Times regarding how gangs in Haiti are using the social media platform.
Although gifts have become a significant form of engagement on the platform, the total amount spent by gang members like Tilapli or the amount of money received by influencers through these virtual gifts remains unknown.
Diego Da Rin, an international expert at the International Crisis Group (ICG) on Haiti, views the misuse of social media by gang leaders as an effort to keep internal conflicts out of the public eye since they united to confront security forces together. Da Rin explains that social media platforms help them convey a message of unity among the gangs through what they share.
“During these broadcasts, they portray the gangs as armed groups rising against oligarchs, whom they hold responsible for the country’s insecurity,” Da Rin told The Haitian Times.
Da Rin speaks of an information war, where gang leaders also target journalists reporting on their actions, discrediting or directly threatening them.
“These livestreams allow gang leaders to bypass print and broadcast media, creating their channels where they can freely spread misinformation and deliver long speeches to defend and justify their criminal activities.”
A Country — at the mercy of gangs, social media platforms in the spotlight
Amid the chaos, social media companies have faced increasing calls to take action. Some human rights advocates believe that tech giants should implement stricter content controls for known gang accounts, noting that similar practices have been applied to other criminal networks in Latin America and beyond. However, social media platforms argue that monitoring content from private profiles presents technical and ethical challenges.
“Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have a duty to the public,” says Josué Guerrier, a technology analyst based in Port-au-Prince. “By allowing these broadcasts, they risk becoming accessories to a crisis unfolding right before their eyes.”
With increasing frequency, gang violence spills into everyday life, cutting through the heart of Haitian society and affecting people from all walks of life. At night, gunfire often echoes through Port-au-Prince, reverberating in communities like Delmas, Carrefour, and Petion-Ville, turning residential streets into combat zones. Even those who remain within the safety of their homes are not entirely shielded from the reach of these criminal networks.
“We’re in a constant state of dread. If you’re not taken by gangs, you live with the fear that it might happen tomorrow,” said Telecommunications worker Roseline Joassaint.
As Haitians navigate this new digital terrain where crime is live-streamed and social media is weaponized, the line between private and public life continues to blur, leaving citizens in an unending state of anxiety.