The anonymous posting app After School has once again been removed from the App Store. The app was pulled sometime late yesterday as threats of school violence continue to pop up even after the creators took steps to better filter the content.
Give a group of teenagers a way to publish anonymously and you’ll see everything from sexual exploit stories to innocent confessions. And threats of violence. This so far defines the content of the controversial app After School.
Earlier this week a Detroit area sheriff arrested a 17-year-old for using the app to make threats. These included things like: “Tomorrow I’m gonna shoot and kill every last one of you, and it’s going to be bigger than Columbine…Death to you all.”
The app’s creators helped authorities track him down.
“As we move forward from this event, this may be a great time to talk to your sons and daughters about social media,” said the school’s superintendent. “There is nothing that is truly anonymous in this forum and their involvement in social media needs to be very responsible.”
Last week another school shooting threat was posted on After School, prompting the developers to change several things in the app, but still allowing users to post anonymous messages.
It’s unclear at this time if the app will reappear once additional changes are in place. TechCrunch reached out to the developers, but they have yet to agree to talk to us or answer simple questions.
This isn’t the first time the behavior of high school students has led to an app making drastic changes. Earlier this year, popular anonymous posting app Yik Yak took drastic steps to prevent the app from being used on school campuses. With Yik Yak, users can anonymously publish messages viewed by those in their immediate location. Since After School uses Facebook information instead of a physical location to determine its user base, Yik Yak’s solution will not help After School.