WA 'crimfluencer' videos gain traction as government struggles to pass anti-boasting laws

"Crimfluencer" videos on social media appearing to depict young people in Western Australia's far north joy-riding in stolen cars are continuing to gain popularity as the government wrestles with the problem of how to stop it.

The term "crimfluencer" has emerged among academics and politicians alike to describe people who use social media to gain notoriety or a following by glorifying criminal behaviour.

WA's much-vaunted 'post-and-boast' laws, which will make it illegal to post about a crime to boast, glorify or encourage law-breaking, are yet to pass Parliament.

Meanwhile, numerous anonymous TikTok accounts are posting videos of children driving alleged stolen vehicles and chasing police cars in Kununurra, 3,060km north-east of Perth, like the ones below.

Loading...

Earlier this month, a video of a police stolen-vehicle chase garnered global attention.

Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley president David Menzel said social media was encouraging bad behaviour within 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.

Allure of popularity

Criminologist Joel McGregor agreed with Mr Menzel.

"Young people have been given a platform where they are posting to thousands more people than they ever would have before these platforms existed," he said.

Mr McGregor said media commentary could also play into the sense of notoriety for those involved, which made finding a solution more complicated.

In some of the anonymous Kununurra videos, participants brag about their appearance on TV news programs.

"[But] threatening harsher sentences doesn't really remove the kind of a reward for young people that makes posting attractive," Mr McGregor 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."

Law change stalls

The WA government's planned 'post-and-boast' laws will amend the Criminal Code to try to stop people boasting on social media about their crimes, with jail terms of up to three years and fines of up to $12,000 applicable.

Other states have similar laws — in New South Wales and Victoria, posting about your crimes online can earn you an extra two years in prison.

The WA laws, however, would apply regardless of whether a person has been prosecuted, or convicted of, the offence depicted in their post.

But the laws have stalled amid concerns from a parliamentary committee that they would disproportionately affect young people who engage with social media more frequently and Indigenous people in remote communities.

Social media law expert Marilyn Bromberg is also concerned.

Ms Bromberg wants the onus to be on tech companies like Meta to take the material down.

She said judges already had the ability to use their discretion when sentencing an offender who boasts about a crime online.

"Don't put them (young people) in jail, it is not going to rehabilitate them, it's going to make their lives even worse," she said.

"Give them the social programs and the education so they won't be committing any crimes to boast about in the first place."

Crime spikes concern

In a statement, a WA government spokesperson said evidence showed boasting about offending online led to crime spikes.

"Ensuring community safety is our government's focus and this Post and Boast legislation will crack down on people glorifying criminal and anti-social behaviour online," they said.

"We must be tough on crime and also tough on the causes of crime, and that starts with ensuring illegal behaviour is not shared online by those try to glorify criminal activity, including 'crimfluencers'."

The state government said it was working on education packages to raise awareness about the consequences of offending.