Violence

Open Access: No.

Abstract

Digital media consumption among adolescents raises significant concerns, particularly regarding the circulation of violent material in peer communication spaces. This study investigates how Spanish teenagers interact within WhatsApp groups and how such interactions contribute to the dissemination and normalisation of violence during a critical stage of psychosocial development. Data were collected from 164 secondary school students (mean age 14.4 years) through open-ended questionnaires, and a reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to explore their experiences with digital content shared in messaging groups. Participants reported frequent exposure to explicit material involving physical and sexual violence, hate speech, and, in some cases, self-harm. Clear gender differences emerged: boys were more likely to circulate such content, while girls more often reported feelings of rejection, discomfort, and emotional distress. Humour frequently functioned as a discursive strategy to legitimise the material, thereby reducing its perceived seriousness and reinforcing its normalisation within everyday peer interactions. The absence of adult supervision in these digital environments further exacerbated the problem, facilitating the persistence and reach of harmful content. Findings highlight the risks inherent in unregulated digital spaces and underscore the need for targeted educational and policy interventions. Promoting empathy, strengthening digital literacy, and fostering prosocial values appear essential to counteract processes of desensitisation and to mitigate the detrimental emotional and social consequences of violent content exposure during adolescence.

Relevance

These Spanish adolescents received content in their WahtsApp groups that consisted of “physical and sexual violence, paraphilias, child sexual abuse material, hate speech, offensive behaviour, and self-harming behaviour.” The content often included sexual violence.

“Research on violent content on social networks and its effects on users has revealed worrying trends” but “there is no specific research on messaging applications such as WhatsApp, despite it being a tool widely used by minors. In the analysis of adolescents’ discourses, several types of violent content shared in WhatsApp groups were identified, as well as their gendered reactions and perspectives on its consumption and dissemination. Participants, who reported receiving this content from an early age, described extremely violent digital material including beheadings, shootings, and mutilations or sexually explicit and violent content related to paraphilias such as zoophilia and necrophilia.”

“Although the rules of WhatsApp broadcast channels do explicitly state that images that are “excessively violent or graphic” and content that is sexually explicit or pornographic” should not be shared, there is a gap in the rules for messages between users, as well as an impossibility of control, as evidenced by the fact that despite the explicit prohibition of sharing “illegal content [that] sexually exploits minors” … the results of our research show that these barriers do not prevent the dissemination of this or other violent content.”

The “violence in WhatsApp groups poses a significant challenge for researchers, families, and educators as the lack of digital education leaves many young people without the tools to navigate safely in these spaces” and so “it is crucial to implementing programmes that promote responsible use of social networks, raise awareness about online violence and its consequences, and foster relationships based on respect and equality.”

Citation

Anciones-Anguita, K., Pastor-Cerezo, V., & Cendejas, P. (2026). Adolescents’ Interaction in WhatsApp Groups: The Normalisation of Violent Content. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.  https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605261419474