There are several reasons behind this phenomenon. First, the legal system, including policies and enforcement, is weak in some countries, allowing criminals to violate the law without being afraid of punishment. For example, since Western countries, such as the Netherlands and England, do not have the death penalty, the number of murders in those nations is much higher than in those applying capital punishment. Second, online social media often has uncontrolled and inappropriate content, such as sex and violence. This leads to negative effects on the thinking and behavior of many people, especially the youth who are vulnerable and can easily be influenced by outside elements. That results in a significant increase in the number of young criminals in society.
Nevertheless, there are also a variety of solutions to mitigate this trend. First, law makers should consider legislating stricter penalties to prevent citizens from committing crimes. In fact, developing countries, which apply the death penalty that many developed ones avoid due to considerations of human rights, usually have a much lower rate of serious crimes. Second, governments and large companies that operate social media, such as Facebook and Google, should work together to control and monitor content on such platforms and to limit the age of participants in order to provide a healthy internet environment. Therefore, teenagers and children would be safe from bad content.
In conclusion, the weak law system and uncontrolled content are two main factors which contribute to rising crime rates. However, through cooperation between governments and social media firms, the crime rate would decline.