# "School vandalism challenge" hits TikTok **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781 "2021-09-16T22:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/41 "2021-09-17T13:53:22Z")
Ouch. Remind me never to get on your bad side. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/42 "2021-09-17T14:11:12Z")
My coworker’s kids’ school caught some students trying to trash a bathroom (junior high, Maryland.) Now the students have to leave their phones with the teacher if they leave the room during class and the teachers and staff patrol the bathrooms between classes and during lunch and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/43 "2021-09-17T14:37:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [edit: speaking of dumbasses, I originally replied to @The_Librarian instead of @madsircool. Fixing the quote didn’t change the “reply to” box, in case folks are wondering. My bad.] I found that the only way to fix that is to “cancel” your reply and start over. Once you start a reply it sticks and you can’t undo it otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/44 "2021-09-17T15:31:58Z")
The administration of the school I work at just opened up the faculty restrooms to the kids. (Harumph.) I’m kinda hoping one of the kids vandalizes it just so they shut it down and give it back to us teachers. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/45 "2021-09-17T16:53:42Z")
> **[A day after a bomb scare at Mesa High School, 4 more Valley schools have gone...](https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/a-day-after-a-bomb-scare-in-mesa-3-more-valley-schools-have-gone-into-lockdown/75-47252d70-de32-4baa-8440-cd53cd50c4b1)** > > Westwood High in Mesa was in lockdown for an hour this morning after students received a Snapchat message threatening a shooting. Police did not deem it 'credible.' ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/46 "2021-09-17T18:05:13Z")
We’ve been having a lot of school bomb threats around here lately. [They just arrested a 17-year-old](https://www.alligator.org/article/2021/09/buchholz-high-school-student-arrested-for-two-counts-of-false-bomb-threats), so we’ll see if that puts a stop to it. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/47 "2021-09-17T18:57:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](#): > > > > Don’t know if that will run afoul of censorship laws though. > > If the government forced them to, I’m sure it would. Isn’t there an exception for videos boasting of committing illegal acts? Seems like this is incitement to crime. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/48 "2021-09-17T19:23:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I found that the only way to fix that is to “cancel” your reply and start over. Once you start a reply it sticks and you can’t undo it otherwise. Click the reply button under the post. Even while writing your reply, doing that will change who the reply is directed at. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/49 "2021-09-17T19:24:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Click the reply button under the post. Even while writing your reply, doing that will change who the reply is directed at. Nice trick, I never tried that. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/50 "2021-09-17T19:25:25Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Isn’t there an exception for videos boasting of committing illegal acts? Seems like this is incitement to crime. If that was true then gangsta rap would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/51 "2021-09-17T19:34:01Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If that was true then gangsta rap would be illegal. If they could just ban the misogynistic shit. Rapping about committing a crime, when it could all be bullshit seems a tad different to uploading live video of your law breaking. And AFAIK rappers aren’t deliberately and demonstrably inciting copycat crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/52 "2021-09-17T19:36:54Z")
Thank Og my son’s classmates are only doing the milk crate challenge. I get to hear about the ones who fall particularly hard during recess. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/53 "2021-09-17T20:04:51Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Rapping about committing a crime, when it could all be bullshit seems a tad different to uploading live video of your law breaking. And AFAIK rappers aren’t deliberately and demonstrably inciting copycat crimes. It doesn’t matter. > **[Who's responsible for stopping live-streamed crimes?](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/who-responsible-stopping-live-streamed-crimes-n737346)** > > The live-streamed rape of a 15-year-old girl on Facebook has brought up questions about the responsibilities social media companies have. Tiktok can’t be held liable for videos that others post. They are protected. There are exceptions, such as child pornography, but if you post a video of yourself vandalizing a paper towel dispenser in a high school bathroom, Tiktok isn’t going to be punished for not taking it down. They might do so if they fear a public backlash but the authorities won’t go after them. US law is designed to give some freedom to those providers. Section 320 of the Communications Decency Act explains general US policy on the subject: > **Policy** > > It is the policy of the United States— > > (1) to promote the continued development of the Internet and other interactive computer services and other interactive media; > > (2) to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by Federal or State regulation; > > (3) to encourage the development of technologies which maximize user control over what information is received by individuals, families, and schools who use the Internet and other interactive computer services; > > (4) to remove disincentives for the development and utilization of blocking and filtering technologies that empower parents to restrict their children’s access to objectionable or inappropriate online material; and > > (5) to ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal criminal laws to deter and punish trafficking in obscenity, stalking, and harassment by means of computer. You can debate whether the policy is correct and whether the law should be changed, but as written the government is not supposed to get involved in forcing sites to remove that content. Basically they’re saying that as long as what is uploaded doesn’t violate obscenity laws, and doesn’t involve stalking or harassment, then it’s your responsibility when viewing the site to filter out content you don’t want to view and/or to filter what your kids see. Tiktok isn’t responsible for kids seeing those videos and copying them, it’s the job of parents to keep their kids from being able to view them. That’s the current law. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/54 "2021-09-17T20:12:18Z")
Or worse yet, not punishing the athletes, regardless of skin color or socioeconomic status. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/55 "2021-09-17T20:24:05Z")
Jesus Christ. I’m glad they at least make an exception for child pornography. Is there no obligation for them to take down revenge porn, either? Or posts doxing someone? > [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > My own theory is the declining juvenile crime rate may be inversely related to things like juvenile obesity and the amount of time people are spending on their electronic devices. I think kids are living their lives vicariously through their gadgets, which generally reduces how much they actually do physically, although an occasional TikTok or YouTube challenge may get them off their lard-butts in a negative manner. That’s actually kind of a depressing reason for a decline in crime. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/56 "2021-09-17T20:31:35Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Jesus Christ. I’m glad they at least make an exception for child pornography. Is there no obligation for them to take down revenge porn, either? Or posts doxing someone? I think both doxing and revenge porn fall under “harassment” which is a crime, and there may be recourse to force them to remove that stuff. Because while vandalizing something is a crime, putting up a video of vandalism isn’t. But a video that harasses a person _is_ a crime and if a provider knowingly allows that to be hosted they may be considered aiding in that crime if they refuse to take it down. By the way, I’m not a lawyer, just a person with Google reading the law. So this is my potentially mistaken and absolutely unprofessional take on it. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/57 "2021-09-17T20:41:22Z")
We had camcorders when I was a teenager and I still possess quite a bit of incriminating evidence on myself and most of my friends. Of course, we weren’t so stupid as to broadcast it for the general public, or even show our other friends, we were really just filming ourselves being stupid for the purpose of filming ourselves being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/58 "2021-09-18T03:18:25Z")
20-ish years ago, the old Court TV had a show, which aired many times, about people who videotaped themselves engaged in criminal activity, and they showed the confiscated evidence. Keep in mind that YouTube did not launch until 2005. One of them, that I’m ashamed to admit I found myself laughing at, and not just at 2:54, showed several young men shooting people with paintballs, and sure enough, Exhibit A was right there in the car. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wZZ9PpXFHjQ/hqdefault.jpg "Paintball Drive By Shooting") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZZ9PpXFHjQ) ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/59 "2021-09-18T05:50:14Z")
Only 4 years in jail? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/60 "2021-09-18T15:19:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I think both doxing and revenge porn fall under “harassment” which is a crime, and there may be recourse to force them to remove that stuff. Because while vandalizing something is a crime, putting up a video of vandalism isn’t. But a video that harasses a person _is_ a crime and if a provider knowingly allows that to be hosted they may be considered aiding in that crime if they refuse to take it down. I’m not a lawyer, either. But I do remember that a huge problem with dealing with revenge porn initially was that it wasn’t against the law, and required laws to be passed to deal with it. There was also some celebs talking of copyrighting one’s body and then suing for copyright infringement. From what I can tell, doxxing _can_ be illegal, but it largely depends on the context. If it didn’t, the whole idea of identifying someone you recognize from a video of a crime wouldn’t occur. Doxxing is obviously bad if it’s a way to punish someone you don’t like, but it’s less obviously bad if it’s identifying someone committing a crime—though you still should consider the possibility ot mistaken identity, and that harassing the doxxed person would be illegal. That said, harassment and doxxing tend to be against policy on sites. And the biggest issue that social media tends to face now is not direct legal threats, but issues with public opinion that result in governments and other big entities doing research. For example, I’ve pointed out that basically the only way to get Reddit to take something seriously is to get it into the news, which then affects their advertisers, and so they suddenly change. Though, recently, they were made by the government to release a report on the amount of COVID misinformation. No direct threat, but that puts it out for the public to see. My point is, there are definitely avenues that are being pursued to deal with these sorts of things, even if the law is not directly involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781.md?page=2)