For every school in the us tiktok

Educators announced plans to increase security in response to TikTok posts warning of shooting and bomb threats at schools around the country Friday as officials assured parents the viral posts were not considered credible.

The social media threats had many educators on edge as they circulated in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Michigan, which has been followed by numerous copycat threats to schools elsewhere.

School officials in states including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania said on Thursday there would be an increased police presence because of the threats.

The vague, anonymous posts circulating online warned that multiple schools would receive shooting and bomb threats.

“We are writing to inform you and not alarm you,” read an email from school administrators to parents at Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois, schools. “We have been made aware of a nationwide viral TikTok trend about ‘school shooting and bomb threats for every school in the USA even elementary’ on Friday, December 17.”

The administrators said local police departments would increase their presence around schools “out of an abundance of caution”.

The department of homeland security said on Friday it did “not have any information indicating any specific, credible threats to schools”.

DHS is aware of public reporting that suggests possible threats to schools on December 17, 2021. DHS does not have any information indicating any specific, credible threats to schools but recommends communities remain alert.

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 17, 2021

In a statement on Twitter on Thursday, TikTok said it was working with law enforcement to investigate.

“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness,” the statement said, “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.”

On Friday, the social media platform announced that it had not found content promoting violence at schools, only videos discussing the alleged threats.

“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 company said on Twitter.

The FBI advised people who see threats of violence online not to share them, and instead contact law enforcement: “DO NOT share or forward the threat. Doing so can spread misinformation and cause panic.”

At least a few districts announced plans to close school buildings Friday, including Gilroy high school in northern California. Gilroy police said they had found threats on social media not to be credible, but school officials said final exams scheduled for Friday, the last day before winter break, would be postponed to January out of an abundance of caution.

“Making the decision to cancel classes tomorrow has not been an easy one,” said the principal Greg Kapaku in a message to parents.

The post most widely associated with Friday’s fears is “not really a threat, it’s just saying they are hearing this thing is happening”, said Justin Patchin, a criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

How to respond to that presents a dilemma to TikTok and educators, especially since many of the previous panics about TikTok challenges have proven to be bogus and acknowledging them can make them more influential.

“It definitely puts schools in a tough spot,” said Patchin, whose center has worked with TikTok and other social media companies in the past to research online bullying. “There are these potential threats they can’t ignore but they also can’t shut down schools every time someone posts a generalized threat on social media.”

The threats outraged educators around the country.

“Whether done as a joke or with malicious intent, it’s unacceptable. We know our school personnel will do everything in their power to keep our students safe,” said officials with the Iowa State Education Association, the Iowa Association of School Boards and School Administrators of Iowa.

In Michigan, West Bloomfield schools went remote for the entire week after a social media threat prompted a lockdown Monday. The 14-year-old daughter of Julia Anderson Pulver texted her saying it was probably nothing but “there’s still a little voice in the back of my head saying you’re gonna die”.

“I was very pleased they wanted to ensure the mental health of our students and teachers and staff because they didn’t want us to come back and then go through a similar lockdown because a new threat came in and repeatedly traumatize everyone,” Pulver said.

As her 15-year-old son studied for his big algebra test, word of vague threats of school violence on TikTok prompted Kelley Swiney to quiz the freshman about other calculations: What’s your fastest exit from that classroom? Where would you run? Do you feel safe going to school Friday?

She told her son that if he felt truly unsafe – not just trying to skip the test or the last day before holiday break – he could stay home Friday, even if it meant a failing grade.

“I think it’s really pretty depressing that we live in a world where I have to have that conversation with my child,” Swiney said.

Internet companies such as TikTok are generally exempt from liability under US law for the material users post on their networks, thanks in large part to the legal “safe harbor” they are given by Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

“It would be unlikely that TikTok would be liable if there were actually to be a shooting,” said Jeff Kosseff, who wrote a book about Section 230 and teaches cybersecurity law at the US Naval Academy. “Even without 230, there are just a lot of barriers against being able to bring a cause of action against the medium on which a threat was posted.”

But Kosseff, who got a warning about the TikTok challenge Thursday from his daughter’s school district in Arlington, Virginia, said that doesn’t mean TikTok can’t do something about it.

“They have a lot of flexibility to be doing the right thing and taking down harmful content. I am hopeful they are doing that,” he said.