Shocking, appalling, industrial-scale child abuse, committed over a social media network which so many young people use as part of their everyday lives — and by one individual.
Alexander McCartney’s crimes have understandably appalled society.
Snapchat is a popular platform, but the fact McCartney was able to use it to carry out depraved sexual abuse of children over a five-year period is alarming.
The case once again calls into question the role of social media companies.
McCartney was able to use the network to catfish thousands of children into abuse. His online world stretched across almost 30 countries, and it cost the life of one of his victims.
“If we discover this activity, or it is reported to us, we remove it, lock the violating account and report it to the authorities,” Snapchat said.
But what exactly were they doing for five years?
Cimarron Thomas (13) from West Virginia took her own life in May 2018. Her father took his own life a year and a half later.
In a Belfast courtroom on Friday, 26-year-old McCartney, from Newry, was sentenced to life for manslaughter.
It is thought to be the first time an abuser has been held accountable for manslaughter where the victim and perpetrator have never met in person.
He cannot be the last. The online world puts up no barriers between countries.
What this case has done is once again present the clear and present dangers of the online world.
We have seen platforms like X come in for criticism for the way they have handled online abuse, but with the world watching in horror at the crimes committed by a computer science student from his home in Northern Ireland, a whole new level of outrage should follow.
And McCartney is only one who has been caught and made to pay for his crimes.
It should call into question the whole approach social media companies have to policing their online communities. If they don’t take action, then governments have an obligation to protect the public, and children in particular, by making sure that they do.
In the meantime, efforts need to be stepped up to educate children on the potential perils of the online world.
Parents need to be aware of the signs that something might not be right.
And for children, a clear message that while it is easy to make mistakes, these mistakes do not define you. Nothing is so bad that it has to end in tragedy.
We must ensure the McCartney case never happens again.