For property owners and police, it\u2019s the stuff of nightmares: Hundreds of teenagers descending on a space, running in all directions, causing chaos.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what happened at a Bronx mall on Presidents Day<\/a> in February \u2014 leading police to arrest 18 people in a frantic scene that was shared all over social media. Law enforcement officials said the \u201ctakeover\u201d was planned online, drawing nearly 500 young people to join the fray on their day off from school. Just a week later, a massive snowball fight in Washington Square Park ended in police officers getting pelted and people getting arrested.<\/p>\n In anticipation of spring break and the warmer weather of summer, the Bronx district attorney and other elected officials are asking social media companies to help prevent similar plans from taking shape on their platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile these platforms provide valuable ways to connect, they can also be misused to incite violence, encourage illegal activity or put communities at risk,\u201d Bronx DA Darcel Clark wrote in a recent letter to executives at TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and YouTube.<\/p>\n New York City public school students off from April 2 through 10 and Clark is urging the companies\u2019 leaders to \u201ctake proactive measures\u201d to prevent the spread of content that might encourage takeovers or riots. She asked that they monitor and remove such posts, educate users \u2014 especially minors \u2014 on the legal consequences and safety risks of such activities, suspend social media privileges for organizers, and work with local law enforcement and community groups to identify trends in such events.<\/p>\n The letter was also signed by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, City Councilmember Kevin Riley, state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, state Assemblymember Michael Benedetto and Eric Shalem, vice president of the company that owns the Mall at Bay Plaza.<\/p>\n The social media companies did not immediately respond to inquiries from Gothamist about the letter and Clark\u2019s requests, and the DA\u2019s office did not immediately say whether it got a response from any of the media executives.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI think these companies need to be held responsible for the things that happen on their platform,\u201d said \u200aKenny Joseph, an associate computer science professor at the University of Buffalo’s Department of AI and Society. But he said enforcement is easier on some platforms than others \u2014 on X, for example, moderators only have to find specific language in a tweet, but on TikTok, they have to spend time scouring a whole video.<\/p>\n Clark said the Bay Plaza mall incident was made possible \u201cbecause of the misuse of social media hashtags.\u201d While no one was injured, videos posted online<\/a> showed terrified customers caught among groups of young people throwing chairs inside the mall\u2019s food courts, jumping on store counters and running in different directions outside the complex. Those arrested \u2014 17 teenagers and one adult \u2014 were charged with rioting or unlawful assembly, according to police.<\/p>\n Additional takeovers were planned and circulated in the following days, but never materialized, according to the DA\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The Bronx was not the only borough to be rocked by big, sudden gatherings of troublesome teens in the past several months.<\/p>\n As temperatures reached 70 degrees on March 9, hundreds of young people descended on Brooklyn Bridge park<\/a> in response to a similar social media callout, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported. No one was injured during the frenzy, but videos<\/a> online showed police wrestling some of the attendees to the ground as large mobs gathered around. Police were eventually able to clear out the crowds, and closed Pier 2 for the rest of the evening, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Officials said multiple individuals were arrested, and said the 84th Precinct \u2014 which encompasses Brooklyn Bridge Park and surrounding neighborhoods \u2014 has deployed extra officers for the week of spring break.<\/p>\n Other social media-fueled meetups in different parts of the city have gone viral for causing mayhem, including the Washington Square Park snowball fight<\/a> and Twitch star Kai Cenat\u2019s Union Square gaming giveaway in 2023.<\/a> Both incidents resulted in chaos and ended in several arrests.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aSocial media makes everything bigger and bigger, but often not better, especially in this context,\u201d said Joseph, the professor. He added that the issue brings up important questions about how to encourage young people to get together in person without devolving into chaos and destruction.<\/p>\n