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Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram have been used for several years to organize fights.
The trend is increasing, the Norwegian Media Authority announced this summer.
Recently, the police have reported large planned fights in Sørlandet.
Also in the north of the country, the police have prevented serious violence that has been agreed on on social media.
Young people are under 18 years old, some up to 15 years old.
Parents are asked to be vigilant.
Dozens of young men barked together in fights in downtown Kristiansand. When the police arrived, the youths ran in all directions.
Photo: Mathias Hamre / NRK
– The news spreads quickly
On Sunday night, around 50 young people gathered in downtown Kristiansand to fight.
No one was seriously injured.
The next day, a new massive fight was planned in another part of the city.
There have also been similar incidents in Arendal and Grimstad recently.
Rumors of planned fights are spreading fast.
Especially on social media, the police believe.
– Suddenly, there are between 70 and 80 young people present, says Torbjørn Trommestad.
He is the head of the preventive section of the Arendal police station.
– The potential for harm is great if the youngsters bark together in such fights, he adds.
Police interrupted a soccer game in Kristiansand on Sunday because they had received information about a planned mass fight.
Photo: Mathias Hamre / NRK
Knife and combat gloves
It is not just Sørlandet who is experiencing a wave of struggles.
This weekend, Harstad police stopped a fight that was planned on social media.
A knife, a Finnish hood and a combat glove were removed from the youths.
– We are concerned about a trend in which fights are planned, says Ørjan Munkvold in the Harstad police station district.
– We hope this does not develop, says Munkvold.
Similar incidents also occurred this summer.
Munkvold worries that fighting could cause someone to be seriously injured.
– We hope we can reach young people and parents to follow this, he says.
I think parents should go together
The police advice for concerned parents is to network.
As in closed groups on Facebook.
This makes it easier to follow where the youngsters are, police advise.
– It is not always so easy to have an overview of where they are and who they are with, says Trommestad at the Arendal police station.
–Therefore, we encourage parents to have good contact with each other.
A classic example is young people who say they are staying with a friend, but instead spend the night in the city center.
– If the young person has arranged accommodation, it is a good idea to call the parents who are responsible for the accommodation and check that it is indeed correct, he says.
Trommestad worries that it is not about monitoring the children, but about having the opportunity to intervene.
– We must be confident that they use social networks in a good way. At the same time, it should not be a sleeping pillow.
