“The digital blueprint for these takeovers relies heavily on algorithmic amplification on platforms like TikTok and Instagram,” Kleiman said. “Within hours, thousands of minors converge on a single location with a shared objective: to cause maximum disruption for digital clout.”
According to a presentation shown during the meeting, more than 420,000 people visited the coastal community’s beaches over the Fourth of July weekend, where conditions quickly became rowdy.
Videos online showed teens and young adults engaging in numerous unlawful behaviors around Balboa Peninsula, including looting a grocery store, stealing street signs, uprooting palm trees, fighting, and littering.
Officials added that these people blocked roadways, restricted emergency vehicle access, and threw explosive mortars, fireworks, and other projectiles at police officers and into crowds that included children.
The city said in a July 9 statement that preliminary booking data show more than 90 percent of those arrested during the holiday weekend were under 26, including 20 percent under 18.
The city added that approximately 96 percent came from outside the city, including 51 percent from other California cities and 35 percent from Arizona.
“This is absolutely not what we wanted for America’s 250th celebration, or for any other day of the year for that matter,” Kleiman said. “Our task now is to build on the measures that we’ve already put in place over the last year and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Kleiman said she contacted TikTok for measures to prevent these takeovers that get organized on its platform, and that the app offered to partner with the Newport Beach Police Department and deactivate problematic accounts, which Kleiman said TikTok has already done in some cases.
Geneive Vilicess, chief of U.S. and state government affairs at TikTok, said at the meeting the company is “aware that teen takeovers are happening in communities and that organizers are using social media platforms to spread the word about them.”
“We look forward to continuing our work with the mayor, local law enforcement, and the city of Newport Beach to prevent these incidents from occurring again,” she added.
Newport Beach officials said they had been preparing for the Fourth of July weekend for months and deployed about 400 officers in response, while receiving assistance from 17 regional agencies.
Police Chief Dave Miner said, “I would like it noted there were no shootings, no serious injuries that occurred, no structures burned to the ground. Newport Beach had a very massive law enforcement response.”
City Manager Seimone Jurjis noted areas for improvement in the city’s response, including enhancing curfew for juveniles in designated areas, increasing social media monitoring, and getting police support from other counties.
