According to TikTok, no video on the app encourages a viral “challenge” pushing pupils to bring weapons to school on Friday, Dec. 17.
According to a statement made on the TikTok Twitter page, videos discussing the supposed social media “challenge” and warning people to be safe have been uploaded on the app, but no videos promoting violence in schools have been posted.
The following is TikTok’s whole statement:
“We’ve looked everywhere for today’s material that encourages violence in schools, but we’ve come up empty-handed. We uncover videos addressing the rumor and advising people to be cautious.
We’re attempting to remove alarmist warnings that violate our disinformation policy after local officials, the FBI, and DHS certified there’s no real danger. We would delete any encouragement of violence from our platform and report it to law authorities if we discovered it.
We are genuinely worried that the proliferation of local media stories on a supposed trend that has not been detected on the platform will end up generating real-world damage as a result of the widespread use of rumours rather than facts.
We appreciate that determining how to evaluate viral alerts on the internet may be tough. On our Safety Center, we provide a guide to assist users in evaluating this type of material.”
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The reported threats are not thought to be genuine, but school districts are cooperating with law enforcement authorities to ensure that schools and kids are safe.
Some school districts claim that the threats started on TikTok in their remarks, although they don’t seem to be linked to any specific TikTok videos or accounts.
TikTok’s remark begs the question: where did this viral challenge begin if not on TikTok?
The viral threat began in Arizona on TikTok, according to Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland, although the district did not specify how it corroborated this information.
For an alleged Dec. 17 assault, FOX8 looked for the earliest mention of a suspected TikTok-related threat.
The oldest reference FOX8 could uncover was a statement from the Elko County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada on Tuesday, which said that investigators were investigating a TikTok post on Dec. 17 threatening gun violence at a school. Elko County was not mentioned in the TikTok, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Local law enforcement has been investigating into a TIK TOK threatening gun violence at the school in the previous several days,” Elko County Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza stated in a statement.
“This is set for December 17th, 2021. Every danger that has been brought to our notice has been followed up on by my team.
We’ve exhausted all of our options, including monitoring risks with the help of state and federal allies. There is currently no serious danger to any of Elko County’s schools.”
The threat started on December 17 with a viral video about skipping school, according to the Elko County Sheriff’s Office.
“It grew into something more with the involvement of social media,” according to the press release.
“As of today, no Elko schools are participating in the TikTok challenge, and no kids have reported it to law authorities.”
Although the Department of Homeland Security has discovered no credible evidence suggesting a danger, it is urging residents to be vigilant.
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The following is their complete statement:
“The Department of Homeland Security is aware of public news indicating probable threats to schools on December 17, 2021.
The Department of Homeland Security does not have any evidence suggesting particular, serious threats to schools, but it advises communities to be vigilant.”
“We are aware of a nationwide TikTok challenge pushing violence at our schools today,” the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina warned.
We do not feel this is a genuine threat in our community, but out of an abundance of caution, additional enforcement presence at our schools will be maintained throughout the day.”
“Rockingham County Schools is aware of a problematic social media post that has been extensively circulated today on the social media site TikTok,” the school district announced.
On Friday, December 17, 2021, the post mentions a danger to school safety “for every school in the United States, especially primary schools.”
The tendency did not start in Rockingham County or North Carolina, according to the school administration.
Similar declarations were released by other Piedmont Triad school districts, including Stokes County and Surry County.