Over 50 people were arrested at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire on May 19. That same day, three people were stabbed at Narragansett Town Beach in Rhode Island. A week later, fights shut down Carson Beach in South Boston for hours. This Friday, police in Hull are boosting patrols ahead of yet another beach takeover advertised on social media.

Every single one of these incidents was organized online beforehand. Someone posted it. Someone promoted it. Someone recruited the crowd that showed up and stabbed people.

Right now in Massachusetts, there is no specific law targeting the use of social media to organize gatherings that result in violence or public disorder. Police can arrest people for what they do at the beach — but the person who posted the invitation that brought hundreds of people there faces no specific legal consequence for organizing it.

That needs to change. If you use social media to organize a gathering that results in stabbings, mass arrests, and beach closures — you should face criminal charges. Full stop.

We're calling on the Massachusetts Legislature to pass legislation that makes it a criminal offense to use social media to organize gatherings that result in violence, serious injury, or significant public disorder — and to act before this summer gets any worse.