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Crime Videos Spread on Social Media as Western Australia’s Post-and-Boast Laws Stall
🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

Crime Videos Spread on Social Media as Western Australia’s Post-and-Boast Laws Stall

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Anonymous TikTok accounts in Kununurra are posting videos that allegedly show young people driving stolen vehicles and evading police.
  • Officials and criminologists say social media can reward notoriety, while proposed Western Australian laws have stalled over concerns about their effects on young and Indigenous people.
  • The proposed laws would create penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to A$12,000 for boasting about crimes online.

Videos allegedly showing young people in stolen cars racing through Kununurra continue to attract attention online, even as Western Australia’s proposed laws targeting such posts remain stuck in Parliament.

The videos come from anonymous TikTok accounts in the Kimberley town, about 3,060 kilometres northeast of Perth. Some reportedly show children driving alleged stolen vehicles and chasing police cars. One police pursuit video gained global attention earlier this month, while participants in some posts have boasted about appearing on television news.

I don't think it's the cause of it, but it certainly encourages it, so nothing good's coming out of it, that's for sure.

— David MenzelThe Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley president described social media’s effect on local behaviour.

The trend has prompted the term “crimfluencer”, used by academics and politicians for people who seek notoriety or followers by glorifying criminal behaviour. David Menzel, president of the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley, said social media encouraged harmful conduct in the community. “I don't think it's the cause of it, but it certainly encourages it, so nothing good's coming out of it, that's for sure,” he said.

Threatening harsher sentences doesn't really remove the kind of a reward for young people that makes posting attractive.

— Joel McGregorThe criminologist said tougher penalties might not remove the social rewards associated with crime videos.

Criminologist Joel McGregor said social platforms gave young people an audience far larger than they could have reached before. He said media attention could further strengthen the appeal of notoriety, making the problem harder to address. “Threatening harsher sentences doesn't really remove the kind of a reward for young people that makes posting attractive,” he said. “We need to be looking at why young people are doing this and target interventions rather than just thinking that we try and police our way out of it.”

The proposed Western Australian legislation would amend the Criminal Code and apply whether or not the person posting had been prosecuted or convicted of the depicted offence. Parliamentary concerns include the possibility that the measures could disproportionately affect frequent young social-media users and Indigenous people in remote communities. New South Wales and Victoria already impose additional prison terms for some crime-related posts.

We need to be looking at why young people are doing this and target interventions rather than just thinking that we try and police our way out of it.

— Joel McGregorMcGregor called for interventions addressing the reasons young people post the videos.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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