Two men accused of a bank robbery that killed a security guard stand trial in 2023. Investigators said they met through a Facebook group called 'Bankrupt People Willing to Take Risks.' — Photo cadn.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Closed online groups are meant to offer community, but police and researchers say some are increasingly serving another function - creating spaces where grievance, despair and risk-taking are reinforced and, in some cases, translated into real-world crime.

Recent investigations have highlighted how people with no prior relationship can meet in private social-media groups and move rapidly from online interaction to violent actions.

While the circumstances differ, investigators say the cases reveal a shared trajectory.

In one case, authorities say a former market surveillance official met his victim through a closed group before luring him to a workplace and killing him.

In another, two men later convicted of a deadly bank robbery are believed to have connected in a private Facebook group centred on debt and desperation.

For criminologists, however, the details of the individual cases matter less than the mechanism behind them.

"On the surface, social media is a place to share information and connect," said Lt. Col. Đào Trung Hiếu, a criminology specialist and member of the National Cybersecurity Association.

"But beneath that exist closed groups and encrypted channels that form self-reinforcing communities where extreme behaviour is normalised."

Inside them, extreme language often draws the most attention, according to Hiếu. Darker stories generate more engagement. Aggressive or reckless ideas are rewarded with approval.

Over time, constant encouragement inside these groups can make criminal behaviour feel acceptable, even justified, blurring the line between talk and action.

Hiếu described this as a form of emotional amplification, explaining that repeated exposure dulls moral resistance and reshapes perception. For young people who feel isolated, traumatised or adrift, the pull could be strong.

Col. Đỗ Cảnh Thìn, deputy director of the Institute of Nontraditional Security at Vietnam National University, said anonymity would lower inhibitions, while algorithms that prioritise engagement could intensify the effect.

"When harmful content is repeated, liked and shared, participants can start to feel that extreme behaviour is normal," he said.

"Once perception shifts, behaviour often follows."

He said young people could find closed groups easier to turn to than family, schools or professionals, particularly those who feel misunderstood or want to prove themselves.

In some groups, he added, a small number of users would effectively steer discussion, shaping norms and nudging others toward real-world action – a structure that resembles the early formation of organised crime.

Hoàng Thị Oanh, lawyer of the Hanoi Bar Association, said she had seen this progression in criminal cases she handled.

Ideas that would normally prompt alarm, robbery to pay off debt, for example, were met instead with encouragement, advice and private messages that moved discussion toward execution.

"The boundary between thinking and doing becomes blurred. That’s when the risk of crime rises sharply," she said.

Phạm Thị Thúy, sociologist at the Academy of Politics Region II, sees the phenomenon as part of a deeper mental health strain.

Modern pressures – unemployment, debt, fractured relationships and loneliness – have left many people emotionally vulnerable, often without access to effective support systems, according to Thuý.

Anonymous online spaces can offer temporary relief from judgment, but they can also become environments where despair is reinforced rather than relieved.

For adolescents, the risks are heightened. Brain regions responsible for impulse control and emotional regulation continue developing into the mid-20s, while peer imitation and risk-taking are strong.

In tightly knit online groups, harmful behaviour can spread quickly, moving from expression to imitation.

The consequences extend beyond individual cases. Families suffer emotional and financial damage, while communities face rising violence, fraud and social instability.

Despite the risks, experts stress that social media is not inherently harmful. In many cases, online users have helped expose school violence, child abuse and other misconduct, providing tips that support police investigations.

Hiếu recalled a case in which images of two murder suspects were shared online. A tip from a student in a remote mountainous area helped identify the suspects within hours, allowing police to make arrests the same day.

That dual role, social media as both accelerant and safeguard, underpins calls for a more nuanced response.

Experts argue for a layered strategy: stronger legal tools to treat toxic online groups as a form of criminal infrastructure; better technology, including artificial intelligence to flag extremist language and risky interaction patterns early; and education that focuses on critical awareness rather than blanket prohibition.

Lt. Col. Đào Trung Hiếu urges users to report harmful groups, saying it helps platforms take them down more quickly and keep social media cleaner. — Photo svvn.tienphong.vn

Education, Hiếu said, should help young people distinguish between healthy communities and spaces that quietly reinforce harm.

Lawyer Oanh said enforcement remained difficult because many platforms operate across borders, with servers overseas and algorithms that reward engagement.

She called for clearer legal responsibility for group administrators and closer cooperation from platforms such as Facebook, Telegram and Zalo in responding to reports and limiting the spread of links to harmful private groups.

Several experts also pointed to the role of ordinary users: sharing verified information, avoiding online vigilantism and using reporting tools responsibly to prevent harmful content from being amplified.

Thúy said the first line of defence would still begin offline. Families and schools need to notice sudden behavioural changes – withdrawal, sleeplessness, escalating despair – and respond with calm, non-judgmental conversation rather than coercion.

"The goal is to reconnect before trying to correct," she said.

As Việt Nam grapples with the darker side of its digital life, investigators and researchers agree on one point: the most dangerous aspect of these groups is not that they exist online, but that they can make real-world harm feel shared, reasonable – and, inside an echo chamber, disturbingly ordinary. — VNS