Kerry Leamy was horrified when footage of his two stolen cars hooning around the Kimberley town of Derby were posted to social media in December last year.
The series of videos showed children with their faces covered, bragging about their efforts, ripping donuts and flashing gang signs to the camera.
As Mr Leamy scrolled through social media on Monday morning, the videos were still there.
"It feels sickening really, just to know that both your cars are out there and these kids are having a hoon of a time with it," he said.
"I'm angry to find out they're still up on social media now, 12 months later — that's not good."
"I didn't honestly know [the videos were still up].
"The bloke's been charged, and they've got enough evidence to take it down – so that's all there is to it."
Videos posted to social media of children allegedly committing crimes have caused concerns in the region since 2021, including clips of youths allegedly participating in a 'challenge' involving trying to ram police cars.
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia wrote to then-communications minister Paul Fletcher about the trend, asking him to pressure social media platforms to crack down on the content.
However as recently as December of this year, videos of children allegedly committing crimes near Fitzroy Crossing and Broome have continued to appear on TikTok and Instagram.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for TikTok Australia said the platform was trying its best to stay vigilant and remove content that "promotes or endorses" criminal activity.
"We will continue to engage with the WA Police on this issue, and take action where necessary, including removing or suspending accounts and hashtag control," she said.
A spokesman from Instagram said its policies prohibited people from engaging in criminal activity or publicising crime on the platform.
"We will remove this content as soon as we become aware. We strongly encourage people to report content, so we can review it and take the appropriate action," he said.
Governments struggle to find solution
While social media platforms do their best to self-regulate, WA's police minister said he had now taken up the fight with the Albanese government.
"I've talked to the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus about the matter," Mr Papalia said.
"I just raised his awareness and ensured that he was aware of that particular trend."
A spokesman for Mr Dreyfus refused to disclose the nature of their conversation and instead referred any queries to the office of Michelle Rowland, the current Communications Minister.
Ms Rowland's office said the matter had not been raised with her, and she could not comment on the previous minister's communications with social media companies, as it was before she took government.
A spokeswoman said Ms Rowland would respond accordingly to any communication she received from Minister Papalia in the future.
Community left to deal with 'copycatting'
For the victims of the social media "challenges", the fact the videos continue to appear is frustrating.
WA Police Union president Mick Kelly said videos that actively encouraged the targeting of Kimberley and Pilbara officers needed to be shut down.
"There is copycatting," he said.
"The worrying trend is that these young offenders probably aren't aware of the consequences that can come out of either trying to ram police vehicles or … evade police vehicles.
"It is disturbing [the videos are still online] — the government need to find ways to … stop these images from being put across these sorts of platforms."
Operation Regional Shield, triggered following a spate of police rammings, is now in its ninth month in the Kimberley and Pilbara.
Mr Papalia said the operation's extra officers had helped curb the kind of behaviour seen on social media last year.
"The fact that some of those kids are filming themselves and streaming it on TikTok is one element," he said.
"But there's a lot of things that are causing or driving this behaviour … it's a big challenge across a lot of portfolios."
Mr Papalia said he asked Mr Dreyfus to match state government funding for regional and remote communities as part of a longer-term solution to systemic dysfunction in the state's north.
"It would be nice if the federal government matched that so that we can make communities better, make them safer … and try and curb some of this behaviour before it starts."
