Note: this article makes reference to racist and violent content, and mentions the names of deceased persons.
An influential social media account has fuelled racism and calls for vigilante justice in Alice Springs as the town and its residents weather social unrest and political attention.
The Alice Springs “youth crime wave” crisis reached fever pitch last week when tempers boiled over at a “hostile” meeting of 3000 Alice Springs residents. After vocal frustration from local residents, the crisis drew national and international media attention, culminating in a visit from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
One Facebook page — “Action for Alice 2020” — has been praised by locals, national media and politicians for its part in highlighting the issue of rising youth crime.
The page posts photographs and videos showing what it deems alleged crimes or anti-social behaviour in the community. Indigenous peoples are predominantly the subjects of security camera footage or shaky videos taken by bystanders that are posted to the page. The identity of those filmed, including children, is not obscured by blurring, and the footage seems to be posted without their consent.
The page is run by Darren Clark, a local bakery owner and recipient of federal funding intended for promoting food security in remote Indigenous communities. After three years of posting, Action for Alice 2020 has grown to have more than 60,000 followers. Its videos have been viewed 6.4 million times in the past year, according to social media analysis tool CrowdTangle.
Action for Alice 2020’s influence extends beyond its social media reach. Clark has met with politicians, such as Malcolm Turnbull while he was prime minister, and has been interviewed by right-wing pundits like Sky News’ Andrew Bolt.
In particular, 2GB’s Ben Fordham has repeatedly spoken to Clark and referred to his content on the air. Clark told NT News the Facebook page “brought things to the forefront. Politicians wanted to meet with me, police wanted to meet”.
The page’s content is frequently reshared across other social media accounts and has even spawned copycat accounts. One such account is the recently deleted anonymous TikTok account @alicespringswarzone, which reposted videos from, used the same profile picture and captions as, and shared links to the Action for Alice 2020 Facebook page (Clark told Crikey he’s unaffiliated with that TikTok account).
Threats of violence and racism in the comment section
Racism and explicit calls to violence are rife in the comments sections of these accounts. When Action for Alice 2020 posted a video showing two underage children being allegedly caught stealing a pack of gum, the most popular comment was “Stolen generation. Everything they have is stolen”.
A common theme in responses to the videos is the prediction of violent reprisals by vigilantes. While Indigenous communities are still campaigning for justice for the vigilante attacks against teenagers Cassius Turvey and Elijah Doughty, which resulted in their deaths, users respond to the videos posted by these social media accounts with memes featuring fictional Wolf Creek murderer Mick Taylor and the words “I heard Alice Springs needs my help”.
“It will take just one person to make a stand,” one commenter remarked on the Action for Alice 2020 Facebook page. “Sadly, they will be the one that ends up in jail.”
Sometimes, these calls come directly from the accounts themselves. A video posted on TikTok by user @alicesprings258 using the hashtag #actionforalice2020 said “the word on the street is violence tonight in alice springs bring your weapons and good luck” over the sound of an AK47 rifle being fired.
Another shared an ABC news segment about the Alice Springs town meeting with the caption: “One attendee advocated for a ‘lynching’. Who could blame them?”
The @alicespringswarzone liked several comments calling for Aboriginal children to be shot or hunted, and that locals should “replicate The Purge” and enact “vigilante justice with no repercussions”.
Commenters call the Indigenous communities “the Untouchables” because they claim they benefit from “political correctness” as police are reluctant to carry out enforcement actions against them. While Indigenous peoples are over-policed and the Northern Territory last year announced plans to spend millions more to increase policing in Indigenous communities, some residents believed that’s not the case — a sentiment voiced by organiser Garth Thompson at the community meeting last week when he said “we’re not here to sugar coat things, or to be politically correct”.
The upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum has become a prominent theme in the responses to these online videos. Like Labor member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour’s warning that the ongoing crisis in Alice Springs risks undermining the Voice campaign, commenters cite the videos as a reason to vote No in the referendum.
“If these people get a voice we’ll end up like South Africa,” one commenter wrote, seemingly referring to false claims by Voice opponents such as One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson that the policy would be “Australia’s version of apartheid”.
“The Slurred Voice To Parliament,” another user quipped.
Mixed feelings from Alice Springs residents
Alice Springs residents have mixed feelings about Action for Alice 2020. Some believe the page has been instrumental in bringing the youth crime crisis into focus across the country.
Matt, a manager at Alice Spring Cinema, took a break from fixing the door to his business after a break-in to speak to Crikey. He said residents feel Action for Alice 2020 brought the attention of the NT government and the federal government to the town’s crisis, but acknowledged there are some concerns about it spreading fear in the community.
“[Action for Alice 2020] doesn’t even begin to describe what’s happening in Alice Springs. It’s almost sugar coated, that page of everything that’s going on,” he said.
“You can call it a war zone if you like, if you stand there right next to someone wielding machetes, throwing a machete around, literally threatening a mother and her sons, saying I’m going to kill you. It feels like a war zone.”
Others, like Alice Springs councillor and Yipirinya school principal Gavin Morris, are concerned about how social media audiences see Alice Springs when viewed through the page’s lens, which he fears focuses on “one particular element of Alice Springs and one part of the population”.
There’s reason to think that Action for Alice 2020’s focus on local crime may be unintentionally encouraging it. Morris told Crikey he’s spoken to “half a dozen” students at his schools who have been featured on the page, who say they’ve been motivated by the page’s enormous audience.
While TikTok and Instagram have been blamed for failing to stop young users in WA from posting footage of them allegedly committing crimes, Morris said he was told that his students said they were pleased when footage of them ends up on Action for Alice 2020’s page.
“They do the crime, the anti-social stuff, so they get infamy on the Action for Alice page,” he said. “It gets 5000 likes, it goes around the nation.”
Morris said his students also told him that racist comments on posts were inspiring them to take revenge: “They go through and read the comments, they read the racist comments. That angers them and they want to go out and commit more crime. Retribution.”
Clark declined to answer questions about the threats of violence and racism in Action for Alice 2020’s comment section or why videos are posted with children’s faces unblurred. Instead, he defended the page.
“Why doesn’t everyone focus on the people at risk here […] The young children on remote communities […] The Indigenous women subjected to domestic violence,” he said in a text message.
“People are hurting, but the bad comments are from people who don’t understand the whole situation.”
I’m not passing judgement on either side here; I’m not on the ground, and I’m still working out the circumstances of how this mess has happened. I’m not going to judge the whitefellas for being scared and angry, and I’m not going to recommend jailing a bunch of bored blackfella kids until I know why they’re doing what they’re doing. Responsible adults on either side need to start talking. Ten years ago, this behavior was around, but it was minor, and it wasn’t that big an issue. Now something has changed, and Alice has a problem with lost business, lost residents, and lost tourist dollars. Not to mention the damage done to the indigenous communities in reputation, jailings and violence. Only one is thing for sure; the social media campaign appears to be doing far more harm than good.
I object to lumping together of Elijah Doughty and Cassius Turvey. Doughty was riding a stolen motorbike and was run over, by the owner in slightly unclear circumstances. One knowingly or otherwise an offence of receiving stolen goods. The other did not and had not, but was beaten to death by thugs who had no excuse, for the crime of being there. I do not condone what happened to Doughty in the slightest, but it is hard to make out a case of deliberate homicide. Turvey is clearly just that.
The Alice Springs issue is a magnified version of one that I have seen in my home. We have a number of Aboriginal children, mostly from out of country, who are engaged in criminal activity from the age of 10. It is likely less than 3 or 4 in 100. The problem is that no action whatsoever is taken in the first instances and then at about 15 or 16 they are jailed. Too late. I do not want to see 10 year olds in jail- they mostly know they are doing so spare me that BS- but nothing cannot be the outcome. Drugs and dreadful parenting are a big part. Rmemebr these are the grandkids of the stolen generation and parenting is not something they had much chance to learn. Maybe we need to look at tribal justice. In my local mob that would have been stripped and given a hiding by the women. Much shame, but tomorrow the slate is clean. In any case no criminal thinks about the legal consequences much otherwise there would be no murders in the US.
I also believe though having grown up among Blackfellas and teaching in a school where they represent 60% of the students, that recognition of achievement, role modelling (especially someone who is not a bloody sports star, because most of us can’t be) and valuing what was an astonishingly successful culture are of vital importance. That is what the elders and my colleagues and friends tell me.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Part of the trouble, as I see it, is that what makes a good role model in traditional society doesn’t apply in the modern world of study hard, choose a career, plan for the future, save your money etc.
Those who bashed Casius claimed they thought he was someone else who had vandalised a car . You cannot support vigilante justice without being responsible for the inevitable collateral injuries. and death.
Was the meeting really “hostile”? One person’s opinion, acording to the link, was that it “felt tense.” Considering that Media Watch dealt with the reporting on this meeting, it’s hard to know what it was really like.
The meeting was not hostile. Although it was a big turnout it was more of a non-event. Poorly organised. The last Alice Springs show was bigger and better
Ok. Some people make immflamatory comments. The same occurs on Ipswich, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba where a lot of offenders are white. Some people are racist. The vast majority are sick of crime no matter who’s committing it
Just quietly friend. I won’t change your mind or try but seriously mate your talking through your hat.
The vigilantes are going to kill someone. It outrageous how much political support they’ve received. I remember when this happened and was astonished at the amount of sympathy the White locals had. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-04-23/five-jailed-for-racist-alice-springs-killing/408320