US students target teachers in “group TikTok attack”

Malvern, Pennsylvania, is a wealthy suburb full of antique shops and Victorian facades. It was also home to a vicious online campaign by 13 and 14 year-olds against their school teachers, according to a New York Times account of what the newspaper called “the first known group TikTok attack of its kind”. Earlier this year, children at Great Valley Middle School set up fake accounts impersonating their teachers and shared racist, homophobic and pornographic content. This included a picture of a Spanish teacher with her husband and children, accompanied by text that read: “Do you like to touch kids? Answer: Sí.” The school district said it had “taken steps” against 22 fictitious TikTok accounts, calling it a “gross misuse of social media”. Coming on the heels of deepfake nude scandals in the UK and the US, it’s no wonder there are growing calls to ban smartphones in schools in both countries. That may not solve everything, but sometimes you have to start with the obvious.