TikTok is being blamed for promoting criminal offences after a concerning trend emerged of teens sharing videos of raiding retail stores.
Videos of what appear to be teenagers breaking into and ramraiding retail stores – and collecting large amounts of goods such as electronics and cigarettes – are being shared on TikTok, in what police say is an ongoing and concerning trend.
High-speed, edited videos of seeming adolescents committing retail crime on a number of occasions, overlayed with rap music, have been uploaded to the video-sharing platform and viewed by New Zealand Herald before they were deleted.
Police encourage people to report such videos, which they said could potentially lead to criminal charges.
But police said it is often difficult to determine the wider details of the alleged crime from the short, chaotic clips.
“Any sharing or promotion of disorderly or criminal behaviour which encourages people to commit these acts is a concern, and in certain circumstances could potentially result in criminal charges,” police told the Herald.
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Meanwhile, a psychologist warned of the dangers of other young, “highly suggestible” TikTok users watching these videos.
Viral challenges on TikTok are also believed to promote criminal offending among young people seeking notoriety from their peers.
More than 100 Mazda Demio vehicles were stolen from Taranaki last year in what police believed to be a TikTok challenge, RNZ reported.
Meanwhile, a teenager charged with deliberately setting fire to potato chip packets at West Auckland Countdown, which caused the supermarket to close, is believed to have allegedly committed arson due to a TikTok craze.
It’s reflective of similar TikTok trends happening overseas.
In the US, kids posted TikTok videos of themselves vandalising school bathrooms and turf from football fields.
Although the alleged crimes aren’t necessarily a new problem, having them so readily shared among young, impressionable minds is of concern, said University of Auckland Clinical Psychology Professor Dr Ian Lambie.
“These young people are just using social media in order to treat it like a game, and to get some fame and notoriety and they aren’t really thinking through the consequences.
“It’s … not attention-seeking but thrillseeking, and I suppose getting attention from their peers and … it’s a bit of an ego thing too.”
He said adolescents are also more likely to take risks in large groups, and this appears to be reflected in the TikTok videos.
A series of short clips were viewed by the Herald before they were deleted from TikTok.
One video shows a person leaving a car and running into a retail store holding what looks like a weapon in a gloved hand.
The video then cuts to a clip showing a person sorting through a large stack of smartphones and other electronics and then in another, around 50 packets of cigarettes were stacked in rows on the floor.
A car is driven into a shop front while others stand around in one clip.
This is followed by videos of what appears to be a dairy robbery and theft at a jewellery store.
Police confirmed they do receive reports “from time to time of incidents that have been seen on social media platforms, and make inquiries into these where we are able to”.
“Police are aware of activity on social media, however for operational reasons we are unable to detail this further,” they said in a statement.
“Police’s primary concern is any instance of criminal or unsafe behaviour itself, rather than the specific fact of it being shared on social media.”
Dr Lambie warned that videos of criminal activity being shared on TikTok can minimise the gravity of the offence, and can “desensitise” viewers and could even lead to copycat behaviour.
He said the part of the brain which “impacts on a person’s ability to make reasoned, and informed and considered responses” hasn’t yet developed in teenagers.
“It leads a young person to become far more impulsive, reckless and they don’t think through the consequences of their actions.
“There are certain teenagers that are highly suggestible who would see this as a place they can actually feel power, and for some, where they haven’t felt this before.”
Dr Lambie said any viral challenges based on criminal activity also provide another motive for youth to commit offences and can even “egg them on”.
Police encourage people to report any videos of criminal behaviour by calling 105.
“However, it is important to remember that often the wider detail and situation is not immediately apparent or able to be determined.
“Videos can be recirculated after the fact, and sometimes the content can be historic and already dealt with.”
Police also suggested reporting the videos to TikTok directly.
Dr Lambie urged the importance of parental education and guidance.
“Knowing what your young person is doing. Being aware of what they’re looking at on social media, putting limits to that and also educating them about the risks and dangers of this.”
From April to June 2021, TikTok said 81,518,334 videos were removed globally for violating its Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, which is less than 1 per cent of all videos uploaded.
Of videos of illegal activities and regulated goods, 92.3 per cent were removed before anyone viewed it.
“To prevent such behaviour from being normalised, imitated, or facilitated, we remove content that promotes or enables criminal activities,” TikTok said in its Community Guidelines.
TikTok has been approached for comment.
This article originally appeared in the NZ Herald and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Tik Tok blamed for crime spree after teens commit crimes and post online
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