Panic over the 'red v blue school wars' shows what parents still need to learn about social media

A series of AI-generated posters, boosted by social media algorithms, called for violence between specific schools in the capital. The posters had images of weapons, and the meme centred plainly and simply on an attempt to create division. Some schools closed early to keep children safe, while the police and local authorities conducted patrols and maintained a more visible presence in the area.

Thankfully, it didn’t lead to a single report of violence, but the incident highlighted three key things.

Firstly, it further exposed how social media and the online world are being used as a platform to organise and potentially incite violence, to fuel tensions between communities and to create division.

Secondly, it highlighted an ongoing debate about perceptions of safety in London. This is despite the fact London is the safest it’s been in recorded history. Homicides of young people are at their lowest level since the turn of the century, and hospital admissions of under-25s for knife assault have almost halved since the Mayor of London set up the Violence Reduction Unit in 2019. Despite this, there remains a sizeable gap between facts and perceptions of safety, particularly among those living outside the capital.

Lastly, it laid bare the growing chasm between young people and adults and their respective relationships with social media. For many adults, understandably, the ‘school wars’ meme was taken at face value and prompted a reaction from parents and authorities. In contrast, for young people, the ‘target’ of the AI posters and the meme, there was no reaction. They didn’t follow what they were being told to do, and they didn’t get involved in violence. Some young people mocked what they had seen, while others used it to generate their own social media content.

This trend has reminded us that social media is used to influence what we do and is designed to spark a reaction based on shock. Content is supported by algorithms that serve to spread misinformation, fear and division, which is now one of the greatest threats in our efforts to tackle violence. When the VRU was established, the online world was not a key driver of violence as it is now. Of course, there are huge positives in the online world for young people who have grown up with it, benefiting socially, culturally and economically. But there are risks we must be alive to and actively challenge, such as those who use platforms to profit from conflict and peddle narratives that do not reflect life or work in our great capital city.

It’s why the Mayor has continued to demand that social media companies do more to prevent misinformation and hate from being promoted on our social feeds, and it’s why the VRU has commissioned new in-depth research to better understand where and how hate and misogyny translate into real-world violence, and how we can intervene more effectively.

What’s the solution to this issue? For a start, we should listen to the experts. To those with experience and with knowledge: young people. We can start bridging the gap between adults' collective experience and their relationships with the online world by listening and learning from young people. It’s something we have made core to what we do, but that is the exception. Institutions and society more broadly need to start listening to young people themselves as the experts.

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Lib Peck is the Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit.

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