Community groups in east London are urging parents and young people to immediately report videos of violent bullying on social media instead of sharing them in order to protect victims.
The plea follows an outcry from concerned parents who have called for action following a series of "disturbing" clips filmed in the area going viral on platforms including Facebook.
There are also fears sharing the videos increases the risk of revenge attacks as young people take the law into their own hands.
In one recent example, footage shows a group of young men punching and slapping another teenager as he stands with his back to a garage door, before being forced to hand over his watch and mobile phone.
In another video – thought to be a revenge attack – a group of teenagers, some on bikes and some with their faces covered, circle and kick a teenager on the ground near a kerb as his bag is snatched from him. A passing car can be heard beeping its horn until the group runs off when someone audibly warns the others that a teacher is coming.
It comes as three 17-year-olds were charged with GBH in connection with footage of an attack in Romford that was shared on social media, the Metropolitan police confirmed.
Officers investigating video footage circulating on social media of an assault have arrested two teenage boys
Abdullah, a local parent who did not give his last name, said: "The video was shocking … and for a parent with young children it was very disturbing in nature."
"The ease with which these teenage bullies were freely roaming the streets, in broad daylight, was fairly intimidating even for an adult."
Salman Farsi, a spokesperson at East London Mosque, told BuzzFeed News the mosque had received several "distressed calls" from parents and other members of the congregation about the videos, and that the issue was addressed at a sermon during Friday prayers by Shaykh Abdul Qayum the chief imam.
"We are deeply disturbed to learn about the recent trend in circulating videos associated with bullying and violence in our community. Bullying or abuse of any kind profoundly impacts upon the lives of victims, and we as a community have to make a collective stance against this type of harmful behaviour," he said in a statement.
In response, the mosque has launched an anti-bullying campaign titled S.T.O.P urging members of the community to report incidents rather than sharing "distressing" footage via WhatsApp and Facebook, even if they think they are helping to identify the perpetrators.
Farsi said people were also alarmed that old footage of bullying and sexual abuse involving two boys still in school uniform was being recirculated.
BuzzFeed News has learned that particular incident, which took place earlier this year, was investigated and dealt with by the school, police, and local authority.
Please circulate this message as widely as possible! This follows on from today's sermon about social media bullyin… https://t.co/8JjlRveMH0
Children's charity the NSPCC said in a statement: “It is deeply concerning if pupils are sharing videos or images of sexual abuse of other children at their school; these are crime scenes and need to be passed to the police as soon as they come to the attention of teachers or parents. All pupils should be warned that they are committing a serious offence by sharing this material with others.
“The victims of this abuse need to be identified quickly so they can be protected and given help to recover. And any young people perpetrating child sexual abuse need to be stopped and dealt with appropriately before they harm any other children."
Shafiur Rahman, executive director of the Osmani Trust, a community organisation based in Tower Hamlets that has worked with young people in the area for 40 years, said the recent spread of viral videos of bullying did not necessarily mean the issue was getting worse, but that social media meant it was being shared more.
"Older members of the community may not have been as aware of [such bullying] in the past, but because of social media everybody is seeing it on their phone and it is spreading like wildfire," Rahman said.
"Whether or not it's a new trend, I doubt it, these are isolated incidents. It's just gone on social media and has gone viral and obviously the community is worried about it as they're not really aware of what really goes on with young people."
Rahman said sharing the videos also meant there was "a high possibility it will encourage revenge attacks and there are also reports that the perpetrators have received threats already".
"On the other hand there are reports that one of the perpetrators wants to apologise, possibly as a result of community outrage after videos went viral, but generally we advise people not to share the videos to protect the victims," he added.
He said recent news of the death of an 11-year-old boy in Bradford, who relatives believe was bullied, are also contributing to the fears of people in the community.
"Parents are especially concerned … I think people are really worried it could be their family member suffering in silence," Rahman said.
"There's no quick solution to these things, they happen spontaneously … so what we're doing is creating a meme that talks about respecting people and not violating people's rights, not humiliating people and spreading these things in the community and online."
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said in a statement: "Bullying has no place in any environment and the safety and welfare of our children and young people is a top priority.
“We carry out extensive anti-bullying work across our schools and in the local community. We offer a popular workshop on cybersafety for parents to schools and community organisations. We also provide staff training to challenge bullying effectively and advice on having clear policies."