TikTok is being sued by the parents of two young girls who died allegedly after participating in the ‘blackout challenge’ on the platform. The challenge, circulating on TikTok, makes a sport of choking oneself until passing out.
Accusing TikTok of “intentionally and repeatedly” pushing the Blackout Challenge, the lawsuit has been filed in state court in Los Angeles.
Matthew Bergman, an attorney at the Social Media Victims Law Center, which filed the suit, told news agency AFP that “TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls.”
What is TikTok’s ‘blackout challenge’
The challenge encourages people to intentionally hold their breath until they pass out due to lack of oxygen. It has also been referred to as the ‘choking challenge’ or the ‘pass-out’ challenge.
According to a report by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some form of the challenge has been circulating on the internet since 2008. A study carried out by the CDC suggests that at least 82 young people have died after participating in it.
Why TikTok is being accused?
“TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design products that push dangerous content that it knows are dangerous and can result in the deaths of its users,” said Bergman.
The girls who died after attempting the challenge were eight and nine years old and used a rope and a dog leash.
Their parents have accused TikTok of using its algorithm to promote the Blackout Challenge to each of the girls and listed similar deaths in Italy and Australia as examples.
As per the lawsuit, Lalani (8), from Texas, died on 15th July 2021. Police investigations revealed that the death was a “direct result of attempting TikTok’s ‘blackout challenge’.
Similarly, Arriani (9) was found unresponsive by her younger brother on 26 February after which she was rushed to the hospital but soon declared dead.
In particular, the “For You” page of TikTok has been held responsible in the lawsuit. The page shows a string of videos that are curated by TikTok based on a user’s demographic, likes, and prior activity on the app.
Calling for a judge to order TikTok to stop hooking children via its algorithm and promoting dangerous challenges, they have also cited examples of harmful challenges including “Skull Breaker Challenge”, “Coronavirus Challenge” as well as the “Fire Challenge”.
Several users and tech experts have also raised concerns that TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has featured and promoted an array of challenges in which users film themselves taking part in themed acts that are sometimes dangerous.