One of the most worrying phenomena of recent years is the growing risk of trivializing the ‘ndrangheta. This is not a criticism of daily efforts on both the judicial and cultural fronts – where journalists and educators do valuable work in schools of all levels – but rather a reflection on the practical effects this phenomenon has on our lives, every day.

The advent of social media, a topic now widely discussed, has led to a widespread and instantaneous dissemination of news, which until a few years ago only appeared on the front page the next day. Today, real- time information is the norm. While this represents an opportunity, it also entails serious risks, which must be analysed not with a critical spirit, but with a constructive and educational approach. Fully understanding the phenomenon of organized crime, and in particular of the ‘ndrangheta, is now more urgent than ever. The risk, now real, is that the constant bombardment of digital content, accessible 24 hours a day, even by minors, ends up flattening and trivializing issues of enormous social relevance, confusing them with ordinary news and facts.

This effect, probably also exploited (consciously or unconsciously) by the clans themselves, undermines the critical capacity of citizens and creates a dangerous addiction. As said by the head of the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (the Italian antimafia investigative directorate) of Catanzaro, Calabria, most people don't even know ‘what the ‘ndrnagheta really is’.

Social media, and TikTok in particular, have contributed to normalizing customs of a distorted image of the mafia, often represented in caricature or even as subjects to be admired, with the use of languages and codes that simplify, spectacularize and above all empty of meaning the extreme seriousness of certain criminal dynamics that have been the same for decades.