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Could Social Media Be to Blame for the Global Uptick in Shoplifting?
Channel News Asia ^ | 20 Nov 2025 | Soh Kee Hean

Posted on 12/11/2025 9:45:46 AM PST by nickcarraway

While shoplifting can be explained as thrill-seeking behaviour among youths, it should not be treated lightly, says SUSS’ Soh Kee Hean.

Shop theft has been rising in Singapore in recent years. There were 3,244 cases of shop theft in 2022. This figure jumped 21 per cent to 3,939 in 2023, and again by 7.6 per cent to 4,237 cases in 2024.

The first half of 2025 saw 2,097 cases, 4.2 per cent higher compared with the same period last year. Shop theft was the most common physical crime in the first half of the year, and remains one of the top offences committed by youths.

The uptick in shoplifting has been observed elsewhere in the world. England and Wales recently logged a peak level of offences since records began decades ago, while an American nonprofit found that shoplifting rose by 24 per cent across 23 US cities in the first half of 2024. Hong Kong saw a 6.6 per cent year-on-year increase in shop theft in 2024.

(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crime; shoplifting; socialmedia; theft
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1 posted on 12/11/2025 9:45:46 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Any video glamorizing, or encouraging shoplifting should be banned.


2 posted on 12/11/2025 9:48:54 AM PST by Bayard
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To: nickcarraway

It works in America. Why not try it everywhere?


3 posted on 12/11/2025 9:58:28 AM PST by ComputerGuy
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To: nickcarraway
Yes, and social media has turned a lot of the younger generation towards " if you dont get caught, good for you, and if you do get caught, they ain't gonna do nothing anyway, just say youre sorry".

social media is the lowest 1% of people. If you believe them you are not paying attention to what's going on in your own house, neighborhood, grocerystore. Because around here ( s.c. grandstand,) we get all kinds of mayhem reported in the news, we just dont ever go to those parts of town.

life is good, God is good, I'm not seeing people dropping dead from starvation or even close to it. Armed robberies are limited to certain areas and you know those areas by the dilapidated mobile house clusters.

you see a shady character in the dollar general? You leave, a $2.25 coke isnt worth it.

4 posted on 12/11/2025 10:01:08 AM PST by Ikeon (Kill me, and I'll become more powerful than you could ever imagine. )
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To: nickcarraway

“The first half of 2025 saw 2,097”

That would cover what, one Walmart in a year?


5 posted on 12/11/2025 10:01:13 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (Communism and islam: failed in every country in modern history.)
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To: nickcarraway

Sounds like the Leftists are getting to work on Asia.


6 posted on 12/11/2025 10:03:52 AM PST by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: nickcarraway

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” - Matthew 24:12

Singapore has some fairly strict laws which they actually enforce.


7 posted on 12/11/2025 10:06:35 AM PST by captmar-vell
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To: nickcarraway
Could Social Media Be to Blame for the Global Uptick in Shoplifting?

I blame it on global warming and President Trump.

8 posted on 12/11/2025 10:10:51 AM PST by chief lee runamok (expect nothing)
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To: nickcarraway

Probably but I think one type of theft that really has come into fruition because of the internet is porch piracy due to so much stuff being delivered.


9 posted on 12/11/2025 10:15:02 AM PST by xp38
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To: nickcarraway

I see plenty of vids where shoplifters get their butts kicked/arrested, etc. so it may be a wash.


10 posted on 12/11/2025 10:20:21 AM PST by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....I voted for this too!)
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To: nickcarraway

Nothing happens now to people who shoplift. Why pay money when you can brazenly walk out the door.

Two days ago, I was in a Walgreens in what is regarded as the best section in the city. A guy about 30 years old just walked out the door while the manager hollered at him.


11 posted on 12/11/2025 10:20:28 AM PST by ladyjane
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To: SaxxonWoods

Where?


12 posted on 12/11/2025 10:20:34 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I have never understood people committing crime, filming themselves doing it and then posting it on the internet.


13 posted on 12/11/2025 10:27:26 AM PST by packrat35 (“When discourse ends, violence begins.” – Charlie Kirk, and they killed him anyway)
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To: packrat35

Are you saying social media is a law enforcement deep op?


14 posted on 12/11/2025 10:29:15 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Facebutt vids.


15 posted on 12/11/2025 10:55:09 AM PST by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....I voted for this too!)
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To: nickcarraway

pshaw, it’s climate change. I believe John Kerry.


16 posted on 12/11/2025 11:14:25 AM PST by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: nickcarraway

I saw a few videos of the usual suspects in Japan flash robbing luxury brand stores.


17 posted on 12/11/2025 11:17:06 AM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
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To: Bayard

And the retarded low IQ thugs who post it on their facebook live wonder how they got caught.


18 posted on 12/11/2025 11:17:51 AM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
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To: nickcarraway

I saw an interview on the local DC news with a juvenile carjacker, and he said that the big increase in carjackings was due to it being “fashionable”, particularly for teens.


19 posted on 12/11/2025 11:38:48 AM PST by VanShuyten ("...that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals.”)
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To: nickcarraway

Bring back the whipping post for each store.


20 posted on 12/11/2025 12:25:50 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (REOPEN THE MENTAL HOSPITALS CLOSED IN THE 1970s!)
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