Joyce Ho

4 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Aric Toler |Neil Bedi |Aliza Aufrichtig |Joyce Ho |Natalie Reneau |Rumsey Taylor

A vigilante phenomenon has been playing out on the open web for almost a decade: Content creators in the U.S. pose as minors on dating apps and websites, then target the people who message them. Many of these vigilantes, commonly known as pedophile hunters, were inspired by “To Catch a Predator,” a popular television series that ran until 2007. The “hunters” have copied the show’s format, exposing their targets on social media.