The social network TikTok and the police authorities denied the credibility of an alleged viral challenge that has caused alarm in schools and parents, and has even led to the cancellation of classes, according to which young people must make calls or post notices
threatening to perpetrate massacres in
schools.
TikTok indicated in a statement that it is analyzing these alleged messages but has now only found videos in which it is alerted to this alleged viral challenge and caution is requested.
"We are working with law enforcement agencies to investigate notices about potential violence in schools, even though
we have found no evidence that such threats originate or spread through TikTok
," the company explained.
Text message a mother received explaining that her son's school is under threat of a shootingGetty Images
"Local authorities, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have confirmed that there is no credible threat, so we
are working to remove alarmist notices that violate our disinformation policy,"
explained TikTok.
"If we found a promotion of violence on our platform, we would remove it and report it to law enforcement," he added.
Schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania increased their police presence this Friday due to the alleged threats, while other centers in California, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas directly suspended classes for the day, according to the newspaper USA Today.
The shadow of the Michigan shooting
The police warned of the consequences of spreading such threats, and asked parents to talk to their children about it.
[A Parent's Guide to TikTok: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children]
"
It is against the law to communicate a threat to others
. The maximum penalty is up to three years in the state penitentiary or up to one year in the county jail," criminal lawyer
Esaú Ruíz Herrera
told Noticias Telemundo.
The authorities asked citizens
not to share these publications
and report any information about it.
"We need to check our kids more," says mother of Michigan shooting survivor
Dec. 6, 202 105: 44
["I did it because it distracted me," says the Salvadoran woman who went viral on TikTok with her dance]
This alert comes two weeks after a 15-year-old teenager caused a shooting at a Michigan high school in late November, leaving four people dead and seven injured.
Authorities reported that the young man's parents bought the firearm used in the crime as a Christmas present.
They are now in custody, accused of not doing enough to prevent the massacre despite previous worrying signs.
