Social media threats spike across Bay Area: Here's how to protect yourself online

TAMPA, Fla. - FBI agents in the Tampa Bay say they've seen a spike in threats, specifically social media threats.

By the numbers:

Agents with the FBI Tampa Field Office say they've received 105 reports of threats since the beginning of the year. 69 of those threats have come from social media.

In 2025, Special Agent Matt Fodor says they tracked 580 threat cases.

"Only 2% of those cases resulted in a federal arrest," he said. "That doesn't mean that the rest of them were not arrested. It means that's what we charged federally."

What they're saying:

Fodor says they work with local law enforcement to thwart these threats through a number of disruption techniques.

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"It could be a mental health issue that requires social services engagement," he said. "Sometimes a Baker Act with an extended visit is a disruption for us. But clearly, there's an epidemic out there and not only that, juveniles. We have very limited resources to combat juveniles, and the locals are just very well-postured to handle those individuals."

He says they have to take each threat that they investigate seriously.

"There's a lot of folks that really like to get clicks and like the attention online, so seemingly they pick topics that are controversial, and they'll use that as a platform to make threats," Fodor said.

He says in some cases, they're empty threats, but in other cases, they could be intercepting a potential tragedy.

"Oftentimes, after a tragedy strikes, we kind of dig in a little bit and find out one, that somebody knew about it," Fodor said. "But number two, that there was some sort of leakage or some way that this individual is communicating the world of their intent."

Dig deeper:

Fodor says local law enforcement agencies are particularly well-equipped to investigate school threats. He says the local counties have robust threat teams, but many of them focus primarily on school threats.

"Schools, got it," he said. "They were on top of it, but anything else, I felt some significant need to get involved and provide some additional training to them. And then the other thing is, the FBI can act as a flagpole."

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Fodor pointed out other types of threat cases like stalking and threats to businesses.

He says the FBI is expanding its capacity to help train local law enforcement and provide them with additional resources to work with one another.

"We also have local threat management coordinators that train all of local law enforcement on the current things that we're seeing, as far as threats go, and trying to build that network," Fodor said.

Crimes against children

State and federal officials are also trying to make a dent in crimes against children. FBI agents say Florida is a hotbed for these types of crimes.

"Your child who is sitting in your living room could be on multiple platforms," U.S. Attorney of the Middle District of Florida Gregory Kehoe said. "Talking to someone while you and she or he are watching television and you don't know who this stranger is in your living room."

Kehoe says they've seen these types of cases escalate with the use of social media platforms and chatrooms.

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"Law enforcement can do so much," he said. "We get leads, we track down the leads, investigate the matters, and we prosecute people that are involved in these internet threats. But there is a whole array of platforms and communication devices that the young people in this community and elsewhere are privy to."

Kehoe emphasized the importance of parents and families being involved in the children's lives. He says they need to take a proactive approach to monitoring what their children are doing online.

"The dark web is a very dangerous place and it is, I don't want to say omnipresent, but pretty close," he said.

Kehoe says arresting these perpetrators is not the lone solution to this problem.

"They take that platform down and in miraculous speed they're up on another platform," he said. "So frankly, there is no way that law enforcement can police this without the help of parents."

In Pinellas County, the Juvenile Welfare Board recently announced that it's paying for memberships for parents and families to Parent ProTech, which is a platform for parents to educate themselves on how to keep their children safe online.

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