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Missing soap dispenser at a Texas public school on September 20, 2021, as a result from a "devious lick".

A devious lick[a] (also known as a diabolical lick,[4] dastardly lick, or nefarious lick,[5] amongst other names) was a challenge in which North American middle school and high school students posted videos of themselves stealing, vandalizing, or showing off one or more items they stole in their school, typically from a bathroom (or, in some cases, merely pretending to have done so).[6][7] The trend went viral on TikTok in 2021 and has resulted in the arrests of many students [8][6][9][10] as well as various warnings being issued by police departments. It also allegedly spread to some schools in Latin America, England, Germany, Australia and Latvia.[11][12][13]

History

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Liberty North High School's front sign after being vandalised by a "devious lick", with the 'L' in "school" having been stolen.

The trend originated on September 11, 2021, after the TikTok user jugg4elias posted a video showing a box of disposable masks they claimed to have stolen from school, with the caption "A month into school... devious lick". Similar videos with the term "devious lick" soon flooded the platform, with students stealing items from bathrooms, such as soap and paper towel dispensers, toilet paper roll shields, urinals, sinks, mirrors, and floor and ceiling tiles. Eventually, students allegedly began stealing items outside of the bathrooms, including exit signs, telephones, smart boards, and microscopes. The videos were typically accompanied by a sped-up version of Lil B's "Ski Ski BasedGod". The videos' captions often modify the name of the trend with synonymous adjectives, such as "mischievous" or "diabolical licks," etc.

Various schools began taking action against the trend, warning students of serious consequences and arrests. Some schools in New Brunswick had reported their toilets being sprayed with red food coloring[14] and other forms of vandalism. In British Columbia, 42 soap dispensers[15] were ripped out from school bathrooms within the span of one week. In Huron County, Ontario, a bathroom had all of its urinals[16] and toilets clogged with enormous amounts of paper towels, while other toilet paper was ripped out and thrown to the ground. Another video also showed a student stealing a classmate's pants while the latter was sitting in a bathroom stall.

More serious vandalism attributed to the trend involved broken mirrors and light fixtures.[5][2][7] In Polk County, Florida, three students were arrested from two high schools, as well as one 15-year-old who was arrested for damaging and stealing soap dispensers at Bartow High School.[8][6] In Boone County, Kentucky, eight students were charged over the trend, with four receiving theft and four receiving vandalism charges.[9] In Stafford County, Virginia, a student from Stafford Senior High School was charged for vandalizing a park bathroom near the school. In Mohave County, Arizona, a 15-year-old was arrested for stealing a school toilet paper dispenser.[10]

In May and June of 2022, Cornell University, an Ivy League institution, had all the letters of their sign spelling "Cornell University" within the College Town Bridge stolen, with progress of the crime and missing letters posted on Instagram.[17][18]

Reactions

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Platform response

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The original devious lick video was removed on September 13, and TikTok subsequently began removing videos featuring the trend. It was banned by TikTok on September 15 for violating its community guidelines against illegal activities, by which time the "devious" hashtag had over 235 million views. The hashtag and related search results were redirected to an error message about TikTok's Community Guidelines.[6][1]

Public response and countertrend

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In addition to schools and the police, various media commentators condemned the trend.[19]

Journalist Brock Colyar of Curbed demonstrated that three separate videos of supposed "devious licks" were, in fact, all staged, with one video of a student supposedly stealing a microscope actually being of a microscope the student owned at home, and critiqued the media and political response as a moral panic.[20]

After the media backlash and crackdown on devious licks, some TikTok users began participating in a countertrend known as "angelic yields", where users anonymously donated items to their schools, such as bottles of soap and rolls of toilet paper, typically to replace whatever had been stolen during a devious lick, or to hide a gift for someone to find, often in the form of a small amount of cash.[21][22][23]

Amplification by Targeted Victory

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In March 2022, the Washington Post reported that Facebook's owner Meta Platforms paid Targeted Victory—a consulting firm backed by supporters of the U.S. Republican Party—to coordinate lobbying and media campaigns against TikTok, without disclosing any connection linking back to Meta.[24][25] Its efforts included recruiting local reporters to put out stories, writing letters and opinion pieces in the name of concerned parents, and drawing attention to trends such as "devious licks" and "Slap a Teacher" that actually originated on Facebook. Spokespersons of Targeted Victory and Meta defended their firm's roles.[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ According to Urban Dictionary, the word "lick" is defined as "an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday".[1][2][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Rodriguez, Katherine (September 15, 2021). "What is the 'devious lick' TikTok trend? What does it mean? Here's what to know". NJ.com. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Haasch, Palmer. "Students are claiming on TikTok that they stole soap dispensers, SmartBoards, and microscopes from schools as part of a growing trend". Insider. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  3. ^ Mooney, Georgia (September 16, 2021). "Wait, what is a devious lick? And why am I seeing it all over my TikTok rn?". The Tab. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Stafford County principal warns of consequences over TikTok 'devious lick' trend". Insidenova.com. September 15, 2021. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021. Called 'devious lick' or 'diabolical lick', teenagers are stealing items like soap dispensers, signs, or boxes of disposable masks and bragging about it on social media.
  5. ^ a b Goldstein, Joelle (September 16, 2021). "What to Know About the 'Devious Lick' TikTok Challenge – and Why Schools are Warning Parents". People. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Pelletiere, Nicole (September 17, 2021). "15-year-old student's arrest linked to banned TikTok challenge after police locate video of crime". Fox News. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Marples, Megan (September 18, 2021). "The 'devious licks' TikTok challenge has students stealing toilets and vandalizing washrooms". CNN. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Florida teens arrested after taking part in 'devious lick' TikTok challenge, sheriff says". WESH Channel 2. September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Knight, Cameron; Endale, Brook (September 17, 2021). "TikTok 'devious licks' trend: 8 juveniles charged in Boone County". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Goldstein, Joelle (September 20, 2021). "Students Across the U.S. Face Criminal Charges After Participating in 'Devious Lick' TikTok Trend". People. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Hollingsworth, Paul (September 20, 2021). "Social media challenge brings increase in school vandalism". CTV News. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  12. ^ "Students warned of harsh punishments, police action, as schools crack down on TikTok craze". 9News. October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  13. ^ "Vorsätzliches Verursachen des Feuers in der EDS Kriminalpolizei ermittelt in alle Richtungen". Taunus-Nachrichten (in German). February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Sutherland, Marie (October 8, 2021). "N.B. schools vandalized in viral TikTok challenge". CBC. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  15. ^ Claxton, Matthew (September 18, 2021). "Vandalism in Langley schools linked to 'Devious Lick' TikTok challenge". Today in BC.
  16. ^ "'Devious Licks' TikTok challenge hits Huron County". CBC. October 7, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  17. ^ "If you see people fucking up the Cornell sign, call that shit out". May 31, 2022.
  18. ^ https://imgur.com/tR0gWir [bare URL]
  19. ^ Navlakha, Meera (September 23, 2021). "Trevor Noah is really not amused by the TikTok devious licks challenge". Mashable. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  20. ^ Colyar, Brock (September 22, 2021). "The Grown-up Hysteria Around TikTok's Devious Licks". Curbed. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  21. ^ "After the destructive 'Devious Licks' trend may come 'Angelic Yields,' social media posts to atone for school vandalism". KESQ. September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  22. ^ Haasch, Palmer (September 21, 2021). "TikTok creators say they're leaving money, toilet paper, and soap in bathrooms in a reversal of the 'devious licks' school-stealing trend". Insider. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  23. ^ Bradford, Taylor Ann (September 23, 2021). "TikTok trend leads to vandalism in Gloucester schools". Gloucester Daily Times. John Celestino. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Lorenz, Taylor; Harwell, Drew (March 30, 2022). "Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  25. ^ Schroeder, Audra (March 30, 2022). "'Devious licks' and 'slap a teacher' trends were reportedly part of Meta's anti-TikTok campaign". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
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