TIKTOK has been accused of fuelling gang violence as rivals use the app to post sick video game scorecards of murders and stabbings.
Videos posted onto the social media site boast of carrying out brutal knifings and shooting by gang members connected to the drill music scene, according to experts.
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They claim gangs are using the Chinese social media giant to help stoke up tensions between rivals and lure youngsters in with their bloody “online CVs” detailing their violent actions.
Profiles of drill rappers have appeared on the site seemingly listing attacks that have been carried out by some of the scene’s stars.
Included in the claims are assaults on police, as well as stabbings and shootings that have left gang members paralysed.
In one particularly shocking claim, a gang member said an “opp” – slang for opponent – had been killed but the victim had been revived.
Anti-gang campaigners and MPs have called for an end to social media sites hosting the disturbing content.
Dr Simon Harding, of the National Centre for Gang Research at University of West London, told the Sunday People: “Previously to be part of a gang you it used to be that you would have to actually live on an estate and associate with a group of gang members.
“Now, with social media, you can hook up with a gang, be recruited by a gang, be groomed by a gang, all virtually without ever living anywhere near the same estate.”
Jen Lock, founder of Lives Instead of Knives England, said: “These platforms are glamorising and glorifying brutal crimes. They’re encouraging attacks on rival gangs and stoking up tensions.
‘GLAMORISING & GLORIFYING BRUTAL CRIMES’
“TikTok caters for a younger audience and it means they are easily exposed to it.”
While TikTok has an official minimum user age of 13, an Ofcom survey found half of British children aged between eight and 15 were regularly using the app.
The TikTok posts are called an OJ Profile or On Job Profile – used to describe a successful or active gang member.
The profiles are then posted on a TikTok account which has more than 16,500 likes and 1,500 followers.
Each profile lists the violent acts allegedly carried out by the gang member which can include stabbings and murders.
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The 21 videos have been viewed nearly 225,000 times.
It is not clear if the profiles were created by the gang member themselves or the person who held the account.
Included in the profiles is one for rapper CB – real name Lekan Akinsoji – who was handed a 23-year prison sentence for wearing a clown mask and brandishing a sawn-off shotgun at police during a car chase.
Last year Akinsoji, 20, and three others appeared in drill videos bragging about killing rivals in East London.
Other videos and profiles make claims about the NGang based in Northolt, north west London.
‘STOP FUELLING THE BLOODSHED’
Gang member Abdullahi Tarabi, 19, was stabbed to death after being chased through a West London estate.
The rival 1011 gang reportedly recorded a rap video with DJ Tim Westwood in which they appear to boast that Abdullahi “got splashed and died, and I don’t feel sorry for his mum”.
Westwood said he does not condone violence or promote violent music.
Grieving mum Sharon Kendall, 39, begged the social media companies to “stop fuelling this bloodshed.”
Her son, Jason Isaacs, 18, was stabbed to death by drill rapper Joel Amade, 19, who boasted about his violent life online before he was jailed last year for 20 years.
While Amade did not use TikTok for his sickening boasts, they are among the social media companies coming under fire for allowing violent criminals to spread word of their alleged activities.
Speaking to the Knives Down Gloves Up campaign – which promotes boxing and martial arts as a way out of crime – Sharon said: “What does it take for them to take notice?
“How is it OK that mums have to see videos online gloating about their children being murdered? My son’s killer is in prison and he’s still getting views for raps that he’s posted online.
“More must be done by social media to stop the sharing of violent videos.”
The mum-of-four added: “Stop and search powers need to be increased.”
Neil Woods, a former undercover cop, said gangsters were using social media sites as a way to build their reputations and intimidate others.
Mr Woods, of Law Enforcement Action Partnership UK, said: “The most successful gangsters are the ones who have the best ability to intimidate.”
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the ongoing failure of social media companies to police themselves shows why it is important for the Government to introduce the long-awaited Online Harms Bill.
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Lib Dems spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: “Videos that glorify violence are clearly unacceptable.”
A TikTok spokeswoman said: “Keeping people safe on TikTok is a top priority.
“In line with our community guidelines, we take swift action to remove dangerous or abusive content and the account in question has been permanently banned from our platform.”
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