Social media sites say they are proactively removing content which promotes violence
Parents have raised concerns about the ‘school wars’, although some pupils claim these accounts are purely “scaremongering”
The Metropolitan Police have issued another dispersal order to combat fears surrounding the ‘Red vs Blue school wars’ being promoted on social media. Hours after a Section 35 order was put in place in Greenwich, police in West London have also acted following intelligence of several pre-arranged fights potentially taking place in Hammersmith and Fulham.
This new order is in place across the borough from 2pm on Friday, February 27 until midnight. Inspector Clive Hayes said: “There will be an increased police presence across the borough. This order allows officers to direct individuals involved in, or likely to be involved in, disorder or anti‑social behaviour to leave the area.
“It covers all parks, open spaces, shopping areas and transport hubs across the borough. Our priority is to keep young people and the wider community safe.”
Over the past few weeks posts have appeared on social media sites encouraging children to attack pupils at nearby schools to ‘earn points’ – dividing schools into ‘red’ and ‘blue’ categories.
Schools and youth clubs have written to parents about ‘Red vs Blue’ school wars being arranged on social media
Hackney was the first London borough to experience these posts, before similar examples began appearing in Redbridge, Greenwich and Croydon among other parts of the city. Some of these posts encouraged schoolchildren to attack ‘rival’ pupils with compasses, metal combs and rulers, and then upload the footage on social media.
The Met previously said it had contacted social media sites about shutting down a dozen accounts which had posted videos promoting violence among schoolchildren. Both TikTok and Snapchat confirmed they have been proactively removing content which breaches community guidelines.
Snapchat told MyLondon it will go further to prohibit posts with ambiguous links to violence, while TikTok said it does not allow posts which glorify violence or promote crime could harm people or property.
Despite the dozens of AI-generated posters pushing schoolchildren to clash in London, many pupils themselves are sceptical about how truthful these posts are, according to the Metro. One pupil claimed it’s an effort to “fearmonger parents” when responding to a TikTok post.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said ASCL supports police and schools in actions they are having to take “to stop this latest trend turning into real-world violence with the clear risk of young people being seriously injured or killed”.
“Barely a week goes by without something appalling happening on social media. This the latest example of the wild west environment on these platforms – in this case all too literally,” he said.
“As ever, schools, families and the police are left to pick up the pieces, while social media companies are far too lax on policing their platforms. When will they get their house in order and when will the Government take stronger action to make them do so?”
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