Racist incident in Canberra receives international attention

Staff members of Folks Gallery Cafe were racially abused by a group of teenagers on Friday.

The incident occured after the owner told the group to leave when he spotted them smoking outside the cafe.

A staff member recorded the group after they returned to the cafe to film and intimidate staff.

Cafe owner Vincent Chen said the teenagers apologised for their actions, and urged the need for education and compassion, rather than public shaming, to combat racism.

However social media users continue to circulate the video.

One video of the incident was shared 30,000 times before being removed from Tik-Tok.

Some social media users have linked the social media profiles of teenagers they believe were involved in the incident.

Other social media users have encouraged people to email principals of Canberra schools incorrectly linked to the teens.

The principal of one school incorrectly linked with the incident sent out an email to families on Tuesday.

"[We are a] school that celebrates and values the diversity of our beautiful community," the email said.

"We are devastated that this video has wrongly been associated with our school.

"We work with our students to support them to understand the impact that engaging in social media in negative or thoughtless ways, posting or sharing items or even 'liking' posts can have on them and those around them.

"I encourage you to discuss social media use with your children, to check their phones and to place boundaries around their use in order to keep them safe."

A Change.Org petition was launched urging a school to expel one teenager alleged to be involved in the incident. The petition has now been deleted.