Headteachers’ unions have warned of a “mismatch” between the action TikTok has taken to remove posts and members’ reports of abusive content that remains online.
Tes also found examples of highly abusive content targeting teachers that is still being shared on the platform, with some under one of the same hashtags being used last week.
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Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), and Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, met with representatives of the social media platform TikTok today and released a joint statement.
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Mr Barton and Mr Whiteman said: “There appears to be a mismatch between the action being taken by TikTok and what we are hearing from members.
“School leaders continue to tell us of posts on TikTok which target staff with highly offensive and defamatory material, and a number say TikTok has either not responded to requests to remove this content or has decided there is no violation of community guidelines, which we find impossible to understand.”
On Friday, Tes revealed that reports to an internet safety helpline had increased twelvefold in just one week.
The government also said on Thursday that it was engaging with TikTok to tackle the abusive content being shared on the platform.
A government spokesperson said: “We are engaging with TikTok on the steps being taken by them to address this issue involving teachers.
“We are clear that social media companies need to take action against harmful content on their platforms and we are introducing laws which will usher in a new era of accountability for these social media companies.”
The union leaders said that, overall, the meeting with TikTok was “constructive” and “focused on finding both immediate and long-term solutions to addressing the horrendous abuse of teachers that has featured in posts on the platform over the past two weeks”.
They added: “We have been assured that TikTok has a large team working on this issue, that it has taken down hundreds of pieces of content, and that it has banned accounts and hashtags associated with this trend.”
Mr Barton and Mr Whiteman said that the social media platform had also offered to provide guidance to heads to help them report abusive content, which the NAHT and ASCL will be releasing in their newsletters.
They said: “We can only hope that the situation improves and that the action being taken by TikTok proves effective in tackling this appalling trend. We will be monitoring the feedback we receive from school leaders.”
The NAHT and ASCL have suggested that an education portal should be created by TikTok, staffed by a dedicated education team that schools can contact.
“We understand this is not something that can be set up overnight, but the experience of the past two weeks illustrates the need to make the platform far more effective in rapidly dealing with any issues of this nature,” they said.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We are crystal clear that hateful behaviour, bullying and harassment have no place on TikTok. We regret the distress caused to some teachers as a result of abusive content posted to our platform.”
The social media company has “already deployed additional technical measures and guidance” and “continues to proactively detect and remove violative content and accounts”.
It recommends that teachers report inappropriate content in-app or via the Professional Online Safety Helpline - and plans to increase its funding for the service “in light of recent events”.
The spokesperson said: “We’ll be writing to every school in the country to ensure all staff have access to the resources they need, and we’ll continue to work with affected schools, teachers, parents, unions and other partners to stamp out this intolerable abuse.”
