Rishi Sunak criticises social media craze that led to disorder

Disorder broke out in central London last week

The Prime Minister has condemned the way looting and disruption has been organised on social media as "appalling" and "unacceptable".

Rishi Sunak's comments follow calls by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) for parents to be held accountable for children involved in criminal social media crazes

Disorder in London's Oxford Street spread last week after online rumours.

Mr Sunak said those involved should face "the full force of the law".

Nine people were arrested after trouble broke out on 9 August when social media videos urged people to turn up and cause disorder.

West End stores were forced to close their shutters and lock customers inside during the looting bid, which was reportedly inspired by a social media craze encouraging people to take part in an "Oxford Street JD robbery".

Rishi Sunak made the comments about the disorder in London following a visit to a hospital in Milton Keynes

Asked what he made of the disturbances, which occurred while he was on holiday in the US, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: "I have got to say it is appalling.

"Criminal damage, criminal behaviour is unacceptable.

"I fully support the police in bringing those people to justice - because that type of behaviour is simply unacceptable in our society."

Dispersal orders were also imposed in Southend after posts encouraging anti-social behaviour.

Donna Jones, who is PCC for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as well as chair of the APCC, said that such incidents were organised and shared on social media and were a "real indication of societal breakdown".

She said the trend for social media crazes was "incredibly worrying" and called for action from social media companies.

"This is mindless vandalism, and it's also criminal activity in terms of shoplifting and theft, looting, mass looting," she said.

"This is taking away police hours from operational policing that they should be doing to keep genuine people that need protecting safe."

Ms Jones said parents could be forced to pay the fines for the criminal behaviour of their children under the age of 16, or under 18 if in full-time education.

"We need to send a clear message - this is not acceptable and the parents need to be held accountable," she said.

She said another social media craze involved teenagers in Southampton goading others into taking paracetamol.

Donna Jones is chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners

BBC Verify searched TikTok to see whether there were recent videos about a paracetamol challenge involving teenagers in Southampton but couldn't find any.

They asked TikTok whether any had existed but had been deleted by them.

TikTok said: "These claims are simply wrong. We have found no evidence to support them and this content has not trended on TikTok. We have written to the government with the facts to clear up these misrepresentations."

Ms Jones said a "handful" of children were admitted to hospital in Southampton as a result of an alleged paracetamol-taking challenge.

Southampton City Council said the incident happened at Southampton Central train station, and involved children aged between 15 and 17.

It said: "We are aware of the incident in question and are continuing to work across the appropriate agencies as part of ongoing investigations and to ensure those involved are fully supported. We are unable to comment any further."

"I don't think [teenagers] understand that the fun that goes along with it - as they see it as fun - could actually potentially be very, very worrying," she added.

"This is taking up much needed ambulance time, police time and of course we can't afford for that to happen and I think parents need to get involved."

NHS advice is that paracetamol is safe to take as a painkiller when used correctly and when the dosage recommendations are followed, but can cause serious liver damage if those are exceeded.

Ms Jones called for TikTok in particular to investigate its role in organising gatherings and harmful challenges.

In a statement, TikTok said: "We have seen no evidence to support these claims and we have zero tolerance for content facilitating or encouraging criminal activities.

"We have over 40,000 safety professionals dedicated to keeping TikTok safe - if we find content of this nature, we remove it and actively engage with law enforcement on these issues."