Schools on Alert After TikTok Challenge Urges Students to Commit Violence
Written by SOURCE on December 17, 2021
School districts across the country are on high alert in response to anonymous threats of violence being made on TikTok.
Per local new reports, districts in California, Texas, Minnesota, and Missouri announced plans to close down Friday after anonymous shooting and bomb threats were made on TikTok. USA Today reports schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania increased their police presence due to concern of violence.
According to Syracuse.com, one threat was labeled December 17, “National Shoot Up Your School Day,” but did not name a specific school or district.
The threats arrive just three weeks after the tragic shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan on Nov. 30 that left four people dead and several others injured.
In a statement posted to its official Twitter account on Friday, TikTok said it has not found evidence of the alleged threats.
“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok,” the statement read.
TikTok added, “Local authorities, the FBI, and DHS have confirmed there’s no credible threat, so we’re working to remove alarmist warnings that violate our misinformation policy. If we did find promotion of violence on our platform, we’d remove and report it to law enforcement.”
The statement concluded with, “Media reports have been widespread and based on rumors rather than facts, and we are deeply concerned that the proliferation of local media reports on an alleged trend that has not been found on the platform could end up inspiring real world harm.”
