Reporting cybercrime through flagging systems: lessons from a survey of gamers.

Several obstacles arise when attempting to prevent cybercrime. One of them is that cybercrime is likely underreported to the authorities, with several studies attempting to provide evidence on this issue and linked to factors that explain the underreporting of conventional crimes. Currently, the private sector plays a significant role in the prevention of cybercrime, particularly digital platforms. These platforms establish channels through which users can report illegal activity, removing infringing content. Few studies have explored the factors that lead users to interact with platforms through their reporting systems. This study offers quantitative evidence on these motives, seeking to explore whether some of the causes linked to police reporting of cybercrime or conventional crimes also apply to reporting to the platform. Specifically, it applies to reporting to multiplayer video game companies through a survey of players. The results show that many of the traditional factors that explain reporting to the police do not apply to reporting to the platform, except for the type of cybercrime reported. This raises the need to further explore the causes of reporting and, overall, the role of digital platforms in the prevention of cybercrime.