TikTok is known for its challenges that are popular among children and teenagers. Most of the challenges are harmless, like dance challenges and transition challenges using the same sound associated with them. Other challenges are malicious, such as “mean licks,” a challenge that encourages students to steal or destroy school property.
More worryingly, several other challenges posed serious dangers to the young TikTok users participating in them. One such challenge is the “blackout challenge”. According to a July 2022 report by The Verge, seven children — whose ages ranged from 8 to 14 — allegedly died of strangulation after TikTok showed them videos of people trying to suffocate. That’s according to lawsuits filed by the children’s parents.
What is the TikTok blackout challenge?
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The Blackout challenge is a social media challenge that invites users to strangle themselves with belts, shoelaces, ropes and similar objects until they pass out, all while videos are uploaded to TikTok. However, the challenge did not start on TikTok, nor is it exclusive to the platform.
The blackout challenge is reminiscent of the choking game that killed 82 children ages 6 to 19 in the U.S. between 1995 and 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (via TIME). The game has had various names since the 1930s, such as the “fainting challenge,” the “space monkey,” and the “flatliner.” Regardless of the game’s name, it still challenges kids to choke without cutting off too much oxygen to the brain to achieve instant euphoria. Today it is undergoing a blackout challenge.
What makes the blackout challenge especially dangerous—and fatal—is that children often play it alone in the privacy of their own bedrooms. They have a phone in their hand, a TikTok video on the screen and the camera is rolling. They don’t always rely on their friends for protection, which makes things especially dangerous if they fall unconscious.
Why parents are suing TikTok
Parents are suing TikTok and its parent company ByteDance to hold the platform responsible for the deaths of their children as a result of a blackout challenge that went viral on the app.
The lawsuit in question was filed on June 30, 2022 by the parents of eight-year-old Lalani Walton of Temple, Texas, and nine-year-old Arriani Arroyo of Milwaukee — both of whom died last year while attempting the blackout challenge. The parents of both girls claim that TikTok has “specifically prepared and determined that these blackout challenge videos … are suitable and appropriate for young children.”
The lawsuit cited five other deaths of children after participating in the blackout challenge between January and December 2021, including a 10-year-old girl in Italy (whom Arroyo told her parents about), two 12-year-old boys in Colorado and Oklahoma, a 14- year-old boy in Australia and another 10-year-old girl in Pennsylvania named Nylah Anderson.
According to The Washington Post, Taiwanna Anderson filed a lawsuit against TikTok in May 2021. Her lawsuit stated that TikTok “sent the 10-year-old what he saw essentially as a suffocation disguised as a challenge. It’s unforgivable.”
All parties are seeking jury trials and monetary damages for pain, suffering and other expenses resulting from the deaths of their children in the Blackout Challenge.
What TikTok is doing to stop the blackout challenge
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TikTok has responded to the aforementioned lawsuits by saying that it is taking safety measures to prevent children from browsing blackout challenge videos. It also clarifies that the challenge was never a TikTok trend. He released the same statement following news of both lawsuits, saying, “This disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to be learning about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and was never a TikTok trend. We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and will immediately remove linked content if we find it. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family on this tragic loss.”
Now, when TikTok users try to search for a blackout challenge, a warning message appears instead of related videos, saying, “Some online challenges may be dangerous, disturbing, or even fictional.” TikTok then directs users to safety resources, providing information on how to assess challenges and warnings, and encouraging them to report any dangerous material they see.
It’s not a perfect method to stop the obfuscation challenge, but it does help make dangerous videos harder to come by. However, parents are encouraged to talk to their children about online challenges, regardless of their age, and give them guidance on which challenges are safe for them to participate in and which are not. Open communication combined with risk assessment advice from TikTok works best to empower young users to make safe decisions.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn