The Newtown Police Department is increasing its presence at all Newtown's schools today, following a number of viral threats on TikTok that that there would be school shootings on Friday, December 17, across the country.

"The safety and wellness of the citizens of Newtown is always a main priority for the Newtown Police department, especially the schools," said Sgt Jeff Silver. "The Board of Education has worked with the police department in establishing both armed and unarmed security in all of the schools, along with school resource officers to provide daily security for the facilities."

Silver said that recently there have been social media threats of violence at schools nationwide specifically on December 17.

"While there has not been any specific threats to Newtown, we still take them seriously and have an increased presence at all of our schools," Silver said. "While occasionally schools receive hoaxes or jokes, all threats are taken seriously. The police department will continue to work closely with the superintendent and school district to keep the schools safe."

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti said that "there are currently messages circulating nationally on TikTok threatening that there will be school shootings in the country on Friday, December 17."

"These threats are not specific to any school system, including ours, and appear to be part of a new TikTok challenge," Uberti stated in a memo that was circulated to district families. "The Newtown Police Department is aware of the situation and has already increased their presence at our schools in order to ensure our students’ and staff’s sense of safety and security. We encourage you to speak with your children regarding both the information they receive through social media as well as the messages they post.

"Videos, pictures and messages that are posted online can have serious consequences that are not often thoroughly considered by our young people. In addition, it is also important to remind our students to report any concerning posts to a trusted adult. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or your child’s principal," the memo concluded.

The social media threats had many educators on edge as they circulated in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Michigan, which has been followed by numerous copycat threats to schools elsewhere.

School officials in states including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania said Thursday there would be an increased police presence because of the threats.

The vague, anonymous posts circulating online warned that multiple schools would receive shooting and bomb threats.

In a statement on Twitter, TikTok said it was working with law enforcement to investigate.

“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness,” the statement said, “which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok.”

The posts follow a disturbing trend that has had students acting out in response to social media challenges. In September, students across the US posted videos of themselves vandalizing school bathrooms and stealing soap dispensers as part of the “devious licks” challenge.

In October, students were challenged to slap a teacher, prompting the National Education Association to call on the leaders of Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to intervene.

Internet companies such as TikTok are generally exempt from liability under US law for the material users post on their networks, thanks in large part to the legal “safe harbor” they are given by Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

“It would be unlikely that TikTok would be liable if there were actually to be a shooting,” said Jeff Kosseff, who wrote a book about Section 230 and teaches cybersecurity law at the US Naval Academy. “Even without 230, there are just a lot of barriers against being able to bring a cause of action against the medium on which a threat was posted.”

But Kosseff, who got a warning about the TikTok challenge Thursday from his daughter’s school district in Arlington, Va, said that doesn’t mean TikTok cannot do something about it.

“They have a lot of flexibility to be doing the right thing and taking down harmful content. I am hopeful they are doing that,” he said.

Associated Press content was used in this report. Newtown Bee reporter Eliza Hallabeck also contributed to this report.

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Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com and Reporter Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.