Social media giants need to crack down on violent footage being posted online in the wake of the Daily Record’s Our Kids: Our Future campaign, experts and MSPs demanded last night
Children's charities and politicians say the horrific posts have played a part in the resurgence of youth violence in Scotland.
They have demanded online platforms such as Snapchat, Tiktok and Whatsapp do more to censor the levels of harmful content seen in recent months.
The Record has reported on a series of sickening assaults on young people, which were filmed and uploaded to social media, with an investigation in December revealing that the trend is being fed by a desire among youths to build an online social status, with each post receiving hundreds of 'likes' and shares.
Experts say viral clips can have a devastating impact on victims, who have already suffered enough at the hands of bullies, as they called on firms to take urgent action.
The National Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) say that platforms are failing young people.
The charity has called for the passing of the Online Safety Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Commons.
Joanne Smith, NSPCC Scotland Policy Manager, said: "Platforms have not prioritised their duty of care to young users and have failed to invest in proactively identifying harmful content, preventing it from being shared with children and removing it as quickly as possible.
"That is why the Online Safety Bill needs to drive culture change in tech companies by holding senior managers liable for children’s safety to ensure they effectively tackle harmful content.”
Tim Frew, CEO, YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work, added: “There’s a very strong case to say that social media companies should be doing more to ensure all children and young people can grow up safely.
"The online industry, government and policymakers need to take time to listen to young people and work for positive change together."
Reacting to the violent online clips, Scottish politicians also accused tech companies of failing to protect users in their duty of care.
Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said: "Social media companies have an obligation to deal with harmful content and ensure that their platforms are not being used as a tool to promote violent assaults.
"The fact that much of this content remains online is a dereliction of duty on their part and has undoubtedly played a huge role in the resurgence of youth violence in our communities.
"If they won’t act themselves then they should be compelled to do so by the government."
Liberal Democrat MSP, Willie Rennie, added: "Violence can be traumatic for those who witness it. But now millions can witness it through social media.
"This causes so much harm to so many more.
"Social media companies need to act to protect young people and the government needs to act decisively with the U.K. online harms bill."
Amid the calls for action, crime and youth experts also called on members of the public to get involved.
They want to see social media users report damaging content to platforms as soon as they are uploaded.
Will Linden, Deputy director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, said: “The sharing of images of any form of violent incident can be devastating for victims, compounding their trauma.
"If people do come across such imagery they should report it and avoid sharing the material further, it will likely add to the victim’s distress."
Lyndsay McDade, National Youth Projects Coordinator at Fearless, Crimestoppers, said: “At the centre of each of these videos, is a victim that is being repeatedly harmed by the content being viewed again and again.
“When some young people view these videos on social media it can be easy for them to assume that it’s the ‘norm’ and there’s a real danger that this could lead to more violence and recording/posting to social media.
"I’d strongly encourage people to report these videos to the social media platforms as soon as they see them. Then social media companies will act quickly and effectively."
Angela Gilluley, a youth counsellor based in Fife, also told the Record: "It's devastating for a child when these clips are shared online.
"It's bad enough that the violence is happening, but kids now have to deal with it being seen by others as a form of entertainment.
"Social media operators should be doing more to take these recordings down, but it requires the rest of society to report it and get it offline as quickly as possible.
"Allowing these clips to stay online is essentially saying that this violence is okay - and it is definitely not."
A Snapchat spokesperson said: “Violence has devastating consequences for families and communities and there is no place for it on Snapchat.
"If Snapchatters do see violent content like this on the app, we encourage them to report it immediately using our easy in-app reporting tools, so we can investigate. If we find violent content being shared, we will delete it straight away and the account may be removed."
A spokesperson for TikTok said: "At TikTok, the safety of young people is a top priority. We do not allow content that depicts real-world violence or bullying and harassment on our platform.
"Any such content found to violate our Community Guidelines will be removed and associated accounts will be banned where appropriate."
Whatsapp has been contacted for comment.
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