Swedish teens swarmed the streets of Gothenburg Tuesday morning in protest of an anonymous Instagram account that has circulated sexual rumors about many students in the area. What started as a protest quickly turned into a riot as police intervened after high school students reportedly barricaded a school.
According to The Local, authorities described the scene as "unruly and heated." An onlooker, Klykan Karlsson, captured footage of the riot at Plusgymnasiet High School from above and uploaded the video of the disorderly masses to Youtube.
"Several bottles and rocks were thrown at police on the scene and some members of the public who passed by the area had their cars damaged," police said in a statement, according to The Local.
The riot began after an anonymous Instagram user -- speculated to be a 17-year-old female Plusgymnasiet student -- set up a profile and asked for tips on Gothenburg teens who could be described as "sluts" or "whores." Following the call-out, more than 200 photos and names were submitted to the account along with alleged sexual activities of those involved. The photos submitted were of both male and female teens in the area, aged as young as 13.
The Instagram account was eventually shut down after accruing more than 6,000 followers, but the sexual rumors continued on a Facebook page created after the fact. Soon thereafter, the alleged identity of the owner of the Instagram account was leaked, and local teens organized a Facebook event to gather en masse at her school to stage a violent intervention.
Police, who were apparently aware of the Facebook event before the riot began, arrived at the school early Tuesday to cordon off streets and circulate SWAT teams for crowd control. Despite the efforts, the situation quickly escalated, and students began "going berserk," kicking down lampposts and jumping on cars.
“It does not feel like we have control of the situation at the moment,” police spokesman Bjor Blixer told Aftonbladet Tuesday afternoon.
Moving away from the school, the riot reportedly continued at a local mall, but slowed down by 2 p.m. According to Aftonbladet, police detained 27 students in connection with the riot. The 17-year-old student believed to have started the Instagram account was also taken into custody for questioning on suspicion of libel, according to Swedish news agency TT.
Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app Facebook purchased in April, has been the target of heavy criticism of late over changes in its privacy policy. Under its controversial new Terms of Service, Instagram will be able to freely use any user-submitted photos, including for commercial use.
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