Internet sex rumors spark riot in Sweden

• Tweet

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Gothenburg, Sweden, high school students, outraged over sexual Internet rumors, barricaded a school in protest and rioted in a shopping mall, police said.

The turmoil began after a user of the Internet message service Instagram sought advice on local young girls, receiving over 200 pictures of girls age 13 to 14, with their names and alleged sexual activities posted. After the account was shut down the allegations appeared on a Facebook page, and commenters began naming each other and offering threats of violence, the Swedish news agency TT said Tuesday.

A claim that a student at a Gothenburg high school was identified as the Instagram account holder is unverified, the Swedish news service The Local reported Tuesday, but school spokesperson Paula Hammargren said, "She is out of harm's way. That was the first thing we made sure."

"They're throwing bottles and stones at the police and attacking passers-by and people driving past," police spokesman Bjorn Blixter told the newspaper Aftonbladet of the barricade in the high school.

The rioting students then moved to a nearby shopping mall. Shoppers hid in stores as police worked to bring the unruly teens under control, TT said.