Hong Kong police step up crackdown on youth crime after commissioner says rise in social media use during Covid pandemic helped fuel problem

Police in Hong Kong planned to step up a crackdown on juvenile crime after the force’s chief on Wednesday said a pandemic jump in social media use was a major factor in an increase in the number of young people arrested for various offences.

Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee said the force would highlight five areas – online job fraud, illegal debt collection, serious drugs offences, online dating traps and nude chat blackmail.

“Juveniles these days spend a lot of time on the internet every day,” he said, adding that social media had become an important route for criminals to lure youngsters into illegal activity.

Siu said young people were attracted by online job advertisements during the Covid-19 pandemic offering “quick money” and that some criminals had approached teenagers on the street because they spent more time outside when classes were suspended.

The force’s public relations wing will distribute 20,000 booklets to more than 470 secondary schools and more than 20 sponsoring bodies.