A SOCIAL MEDIA account used to share videos of violent incidents in Fife schools has been removed from Snapchat.

The social media company confirmed this week that the account had been taken down after a Fife-based Scottish Liberal Democrat MP expressed her concern.

Wendy Chamberlain MP, along with North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie, welcomed the news which has also seen Snapchat working to identify associated accounts.

READ MORE: Posting videos on social media of fights at Fife schools is 'sickening'

Ms Chamberlain said: “This is a positive step and I am glad that the account has been removed. Sensationalising violence in schools can only make the problem worse and is damaging to the children involved.

"Social media companies need to take responsibility and ensure that this kind of content can’t find a home on their platforms.”

READ MORE:'Crisis in our schools'

Mr Rennie, a former Dunfermline MP, added said violence in schools had worsened since the pandemic.

"Social media accounts like this one are part of the story, but far from the only factor," he said. "The Scottish Government has taken some positive steps in recognising the problem, but there is still a long way to go.

"Official statistics haven’t been collected for years and new figures are months away. Teachers need resources and support, and confidence that school leaderships and councils will have their back.”

Back in February a report on bullying and violence in Fife's schools was ordered by councillors after a shocking video of a classroom fight reached the First Minister.

The attack at Waid Academy in Anstruther was condemned at Holyrood and local representatives asked for detailed information on the extent of the problem and how it is being dealt with.

At another meeting in May, councillors were told there had been an increase in verbal and physical attacks in and out of the classroom while the "sickening" practice of filming fights and posting them on social media was also slammed.

In a letter to Ms Chamberlain, Snapchat's Head of Public Policy in UK and Ireland, Sanjit Gill, confirmed the account in question had been scrapped.

"At Snap, our priority is protecting the safety, privacy and wellbeing of our users. Guided by our long-standing privacy-by-design and safety-by-design principles, Snapchat has intentionally been designed very differently to traditional social media where there is no open newsfeed to aid the virality of unvetted and harmful content. "Rather, the focus is on enhancing communications and creativity between friends and family.

"Our Community Guidelines are clear that any violence-related content is prohibited on Snapchat. We operate moderation measures such as an Abusive Terms List that we review regularly and use to identify and remove any accounts containing contravening terms including on violence.

"We also make it easy for people to confidentially report any concerns to us which are swiftly reviewed and enforced by our global Trust and Safety team working 24.7.

"Where the team encounters a serious threat to life, they will escalate this to law enforcement immediately."