Northstate law enforcement and Bay Area schools respond to TikTok challenge threats

A viral TikTok challenge, asking students to bring weapons to school, took over the country on Friday, Dec 17.

So far, Northstate schools are safe from any threat however, law enforcement is keeping an eye on social media for rumors – officials reported.

According to the Redding police statement, they will notify the school staff and students’ families in case of an emergency.

For preventive purposes, officials will stay close to the schools in Redding area for the day.

Corning Police Department will patrol throughout the day outside the local schools due to the current weird TikTok challenge and will communicate any concerns from students’ parents.

Again, the authorities have not encountered any threats to local schools so far, though they are keeping everyone aware of the activity to stay on alert.

When KGO spoke with a tech expert, Ahmed Banafa at San Jose State regarding the ongoing challenge, he said, “ between artificial intelligence and monitoring done by humans, social media platforms can do a better job at scanning threatening keywords in the context of a post like the one that led to tomorrow’s closure of Gilroy High School faster.”

Meanwhile, a school in Gilroy is currently planning a preventive closure for a day concerning these threats.

Other Bay Area district schools are keeping parents alert to possible threats on Friday.

Gilroy police announced, “out of an abundance of caution, classes at Gilroy High School have been canceled for Friday.”

Authorities are staying in contact with the TikTok security to monitor any misuse of the app. Moreover, they have encouraged parents to stay in touch with the students and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.

Other school districts like Pleasanton and  Mount Diablo have spread similar precautionary guidelines. However, they disagreed on keeping the school close for the day.

[THREAD] Response to Threats of Violence on Social Media: The CDE is aware of threats of violence against schools circulating on TikTok and other social media platforms.

We understand that this is a statewide as well as a national issue and State Supt. @TonyThurmond [1/4] pic.twitter.com/WHfokewF4N

— CA Department of Education (@CADeptEd) December 17, 2021

has been in touch with CHP to assess the situation and as a precautionary measure of security for our State Special Schools.

CDE continues to monitor the situation and we have also been in touch with CalOES to provide additional safety measures and resources to our school [2/4]

— CA Department of Education (@CADeptEd) December 17, 2021

districts as needed. We are advising that students should take care not to repost threats as they create a cycle of fear and can complicate law enforcement investigations. We are asking schools to be vigilant and to contact their local law enforcement agencies if they have [3/4]

— CA Department of Education (@CADeptEd) December 17, 2021

any concerns and to ensure counselors are available for students who would like to speak to someone. Districts should be in touch with CDE if they need information on additional resources. [4/4]

— CA Department of Education (@CADeptEd) December 17, 2021

More information will be shared as soon as received.