NSW Police call for ‘concerted societal effort’ to spot young criminal ‘posting and boasting’

Frustrated cops are urging parents to get their kids into sport or part-time jobs to beat the scourge of youth crime as Meta responds to claims the social media platform is fuelling the crisis.

Frustrated police are urging everyday Aussies to get their kids into sport or part-time jobs to beat the scourge in youth crime as social media giant Meta defends accusations it is responsible for glamorising a life of crime.

NSW Police are calling for a “concerted societal effort” to prevent at-risk young people from turning to crime.

“There needs to be a concerted, societal effort to instil a sense of belonging and purpose to enable at-risk young individuals to reach their full potential.

“This could mean encouraging kids into activities such as work, school, community or sport,” a NSW Police spokesman said after the Telegraph revealed how youth crime was being driven by children posting about their actions online and gaining notoriety.

Meanwhile tech giant Meta has defended accusations it promotes violent content on its platforms, claiming they took down 99 per cent of confronting videos before it was reported by users.

Young offenders are posting their criminal activities on social media sites including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Picture: Instagram

Screenshot of a minor smoking a bong in Tamworth. Picture: Instagram

After the Telegraph revealed that videos showing young people committing crimes were being left online across Instagram and TikTok, Meta has said they are proactively working to take such content down.

In the quarter of Oct-Dec 2023, they said 99.2 per cent of all violent and graphic content found to be violating our guidelines on Instagram and 98.6 per cent of such content found to be violating on Facebook was actioned proactively before it was reported by users.

“Meta’s policies prohibit people from promoting criminal or harmful activities and we will remove this content as soon as we become aware. We use a combination of technology, reports from our community, law enforcement and regulators such as the eSafety Commissioner, and review by our teams to help us act,” they said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said new “posting and boasting” laws were not enough. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Appleyard

But Opposition leader Peter Dutton, whose party is seeking to make new laws to prevent young people from “posting and boasting” about criminal activities said social platforms were not “living up to expectation”.

“It’s not about stealing money for food. It’s not about anything other than glorification online, and we should be starving them of that trophy,” he said.

“It’s obvious to all Australians at the moment that Meta and the other digital companies just aren’t living up to expectations.”

Mr Dutton said that at a time when Meta was ”ripping billions” from the nation’s media industry, they have “a moral obligation to give back to our community”.

Under current legislation, social platforms can be fined up to $10.5m or 10 per cent of their annual turnover if they knowingly leave criminal content online — but this only applies to the most heinous crimes such as rape, terrorism and murder. Penalties of a three-year prison term or a $2.1m fine also apply to individuals who “provide a hosting service” and fail to remove material but once again the current provisions only capture the most heinous crimes.

The Coalition legislation aims to capture youth crime which often involves breaking-and-entering, theft and dangerous driving.

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