CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There will be an extra police presence at schools nationwide, and here locally, in response to TikTok posts warning of shooting and bomb threats at schools around the country Friday. Officials assured parents the viral posts were not considered credible.
The Sinton Police Department said they are aware of the viral, vague threats and will provide extra security to schools there Friday.
Three Rivers ISD said they are aware of the challenge and said there have been no threats toward any school there.
Officials with Corpus Christi ISD said they take all threats seriously and ask that anyone with information to share to please do so with authorities. There will be extra security on campuses today. But, it is important to note that officials have not received a credible threat against any schools.
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.
The vague, anonymous posts circulating online warned that multiple schools would receive shooting and bomb threats.
In a statement on Twitter, 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.”
The posts follow a disturbing trend that has had students acting out in response to social media challenges. In September, students across the U.S. posted videos of themselves vandalizing school bathrooms and stealing soap dispensers as part of the “devious licks” challenge.
In October, students were challenged to slap a teacher, prompting the National Education Association to call on the leaders of Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to intervene.
Internet companies such as TikTok are generally exempt from liability under U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
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,” officials with the Iowa State Education Association, the Iowa Association of School Boards and School Administrators of Iowa said in a joint statement.
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