TikTok announced on Friday that it is attempting to delete “alarmist messages” on a rumored day of school violence on Friday, December 17th. The threat of a statewide day of violence at schools throughout the country, which purportedly began as a TikTok challenge, drove some districts to postpone classes on Friday, despite the fact that law authorities determined the threats were generally unfounded.
The alerts, TikTok claimed on Twitter, violated its disinformation policy, which prohibits the distribution of hoaxes or fake warnings that regard them as real. Despite numerous but unverified reports, Tiktok announced on Friday that it has not uncovered content on its site encouraging violence in US schools after checking “exhaustively.”
In a thread on Twitter, TikTok’s communications team wrote, “What we discover are videos debating this myth and urging people to stay safe.” “Because local officials, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security have all determined that there is no real danger, we’re working to remove alarmist warnings that violate our disinformation policy.” The business said it would remove and report any threats it discovered, and it was “very worried” that “the proliferation of local media reporting on a purported trend that has not been established on the platform could end up motivating real-world damage.”
3/ 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.
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) December 17, 2021
Reports of threats reportedly made on TikTok began circulating on social media and local television news stations on Friday, putting schools across the United States on high alert. A few states school districts have announced that they will close on Friday; others have strengthened police presence and warned parents.
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While most districts and local police agencies heard about a trend mentioning the possibility of shootings or bombings on December 17th, it was unclear how many saw specific threats or threats against their schools.