Posting videos of crimes on social media will be illegal under a Coalition Government

It will be illegal to post photos and videos of crimes on social media under a Coalition Government as Peter Dutton pledges to crack down on youth violence and criminal activity.

The Opposition will on Thursday make the policy announcement, which includes giving the eSafety Commissioner powers to have violent material taken down from the internet, before introducing a bill in Federal Parliament next week.

The bill will make it an offence to post material glorifying violence, drug offences or property crime for the purpose of increasing a person’s profile — and will carry a jail term of up to two years.

It will also allow courts during the sentencing process to prohibit a person who has been convicted of the new offence from using social media for up to two years.

Mr Dutton said the Federal Government had a role to play in cracking down on bad behaviour on social media and promised to make a difference if he won the next Federal election.

“Youth crime is out of control in many parts of our country and more needs to be done to combat it,” the Opposition leader said.

“It is time to get serious on young criminals who seek to highlight their criminal activity on social media. Sadly, the problem is getting worse.”

State governments have moved to introduce penalties for “posting and boasting” about committing crimes online — mostly on TikTok and Instagram — with youth crime increasing in recent years.

NSW on Tuesday announced it would spend $26.2 million in an effort to curb youth crime — particularly in regional parts of the State — by bringing in penalties on motor vehicle theft and break-and-enter offences.

The offence would apply to the person who posted the video on social media and not those who re-posted it.

The Federal bill has been designed to complement State-level regimes.

Youth crime has been in the spotlight in the Northern Territory, with NT Police data showing increased crime in Alice Springs and Katherine. One incident in November, where an elderly woman had a rock thrown at her face by one of three juveniles who were allegedly robbing her home truly “sickened and distressed” the community of Alice Springs.

In 2022, the NT government moved to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. However, the Country Liberal Party has pledged if it wins government at the NT’s next election it will reverse the decision.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, gang members are allegedly recruiting children into the unrelenting tobacco war, with four teenagers arrested over a string of arson attacks in January. At the time, Detective Inspector Graham Banks said police suspected gang members were tasking children already involved in petty crimes to carry out the hits.

WA has also seen a rise in youth crime with the latest being vision released online of an 11-year-old violently assaulting a 69-year-old man.

The State has been calling for a Federal crackdown since at least 2022 after footage of two stolen cars hooning around the Kimberley town of Derby was posted to social media.

In the same year, a police operation was set up after an Americanised gangster culture gripped the region.

The TikTok challenge trend saw groups of juveniles filming themselves committing crimes and then encouraging others to “better” them by increasing the seriousness of the crime.

“We need to do all we can to keep our community safe and deter young criminals from doing the wrong thing,” Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said.

“We call on the Government to support us in this regard... this is a commonsense proposal that seeks to address this worrying trend.”