(Bloomberg) — New York Mayor Eric Adams joined the group of lawmakers blaming social media for society’s ills, saying he desires to maintain the platforms accountable for a rising variety of automotive thefts within the metropolis. 

Adams and New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell “sounded the alarm” on the Kia Problem, a social-media-driven pattern spawned by viral movies that take viewers by means of steps for stealing sure fashions of Kia and Hyundai automobiles. To this point this 12 months, New York police have made about 109 arrests for thefts of Kias and Hyundais, a consultant from the police division’s auto crimes unit mentioned at a Thursday press convention.

“This actually emphasizes my steady name for the accountable conduct of social media,” Adams mentioned on the press convention. “This problem specifically with Kia and Hyundai, we see it as not solely stealing a car, but it surely’s stealing the way forward for our younger individuals.”

In cities throughout the US, automotive theft started to extend throughout the pandemic and hasn’t leveled off. In New York, grand larceny of motor automobiles elevated by 32% final 12 months, greater than every other kind of main felony, in accordance with NYPD knowledge. The Kia and Hyundai thefts are primarily concentrated within the Bronx and northern Manhattan, Commissioner Sewell mentioned.

The viral movies goal Hyundais and Kias that lack an electronic-security function — referred to as an engine immobilizer — that retains the automotive from being began with no key. Amongst 2015-2019 model-year automobiles, theft claims had been almost twice as widespread for Hyundai and Kia automobiles as a gaggle as for all different producers, in accordance with a Freeway Loss Knowledge Institute evaluation of 2021 insurance coverage.

The Kia Problem began driving associated crime in New York final September, Sewell mentioned, after having proliferated on TikTok since at the very least final July. Adams’s public rebuke of social media corporations comes after hearings in Washington, DC, final week, the place lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Chew concerning the app’s safety and insurance policies. Whereas a number of federal lawmakers are calling for a ban on the corporate’s app over nationwide safety fears, Adams wouldn’t say whether or not he agrees with their demand.

“I feel that it’s crucial for Congress and the federal lawmakers to do a deep dive and give you the appropriate solution to monitor social media,” he mentioned on Thursday. 

Adams’ considerations seem like grounded in citywide security. Earlier this 12 months, the mayor referred to as out the risks of subway browsing — one other dangerous conduct pushed by virality on social media — after it led to the demise of a 15-year-old Manhattan teen. 

“As we proceed to lower crime and transfer crime in the appropriate course, we don’t want aggravating components resembling what we’re seeing in a social media problem of this magnitude,” Adams mentioned on Thursday. “We do not want social media to contribute to social dysfunction.”