#CartelTiktok: How Drug Cartels Utilise Social Media

Abstract

#CartelTikTok: How Drug Cartels Utilise Social Media August 2023 University of Glasgow: 2486717T Charles University: 47459870 Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies Supervisor: Rhys Crilley Date of Submission: 11/08/2023 Abstract Mexican drug cartels have become some of the most powerful organisations in the world. Contrary to most scholarship, I argue that drug cartels are not political organisations but rather function as criminal enterprises like private companies, as their main objective is a quest for profit. Like any profit-led enterprise, cartels have specific objectives, strategies, actions, and actors that help augment their profit and power. To achieve their objectives, cartels utilise branding strategies, referred to throughout this dissertation as narco branding. Narcobranding can consist of in-person strategies carried out by cartel members or others related to their activities or online content through posting videos, creating digital communities, or using social media. This dissertation focuses exclusively on the use of social media, specifically TikTok, by Mexico's two most important cartels: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. This research found that through using...