For gangs with huge social media presence, nothing is bad publicity

Apex primarily uses social media to coordinate activities, legal and illegal

Media-fuelled moral panics can increase the lawbreaking behaviour of targeted groups. This phenomenon was originally thought to arise through further isolation of these groups. But in the age of social media and online self-promotion, where lawbreakers can upload footage of their illicit exploits for kudos, being the subject of a moral panic may be a source of pride and an inducement to offend.

As American criminologist Ray Surette notes:

When the news media sensationalise crimes and make celebrities of criminals, people seeking notoriety imitate those crimes, sometimes posting movies of them for all