Responding to performance crime: post and boast offences in Australia

Posting and boasting—a form of performance crime involving the recording and dissemination of offending behaviour through social media—has attracted significant media attention in Australia in recent years. The phenomenon has been linked to rising youth crime, victim re-traumatisation, community fear and increasingly dangerous forms of criminal behaviour. In response, Australian jurisdictions have rapidly introduced a range of criminal offences targeting the creation and dissemination of offending content. This article examines the emergence of these reforms and evaluates their likely effectiveness. Drawing upon literature on digital deviance, reputation-based offending and performance crime, we argue that posting and boasting should not be dismissed as merely a moral panic, notwithstanding the role of media and political actors in shaping public perceptions of youth crime. We identify two distinct approaches to criminalisation that have emerged across Australian jurisdictions. We argue that both approaches may face significant limitations. We conclude that while some response to performance crime is warranted, criminalisation alone is unlikely to provide a complete solution. Greater attention should be directed towards alternative and complementary responses, including platform regulation, content removal mechanisms, education initiatives and further empirical research.