TikTok Sued After Two Young Girls Died in 2021 While Performing the Viral 'Blackout Challenge'
"TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design and develop its product to encourage, enable, and push content to teens and children that defendant knows to be problematic and highly detrimental to its minor users’ mental health," the lawsuit stated.
Mumbai, July 3: In what seems to be legal trouble, TikTok, the short-form video-sharing platform has been sued for wrongful death after two young girls killed themselves while trying to recreate the viral "blackout challenge" videos that they watched on the platform.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the two deceased girls have been identified as Lalani Erika Walton (8), and Arriani Jaileen Arroyo (9). The suits alleged that both the girls were wounded up dead after the two watched hours of the videos featuring the "Blackout challenge" that was fed to them by TikTok’s algorithm. Justice JB Pardiwala, Supreme Court Judge Calls for Regulation of Social Media, Says 'Trials by Digital Media Are Undue Interference for the Judiciary'.
The wrongful death lawsuits were filed on Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the social media giant. The "blackout challenge" - which is another new trend in the viral dangerous fads allegedly promotes a form of self-strangulation. The viral trend challenges users to see how long they can hold their breath. Experts say that the game can have deadly consequences.
After attempting the challenge, 8-year-old Lalani was found in her broom "hanging from her bed with a rope around her neck". On the other hand, 9-year-old Arriani was found hanging from a dog leash in her basement. Google to Auto-Delete Abortion Clinic and Other Sensitive Visits From Users’ Location Data.
"TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design and develop its product to encourage, enable, and push content to teens and children that defendant knows to be problematic and highly detrimental to its minor users’ mental health," the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit also alleged that TikTok's algorithm recommended the "blackout challenge" to both the girls who dies in 2021 after strangulating themselves. In simple terms, the "blackout challenge" encourages people to choke themselves until they become unconscious.
The lawsuit by the parents of the decease comes at a time when the app is facing a number of scrutiny over the impact it's having on young people and especially children. In May 220, a mother of a 10-year-old girl from Pennsylvania sued TikTok after her child died from the viral "blackout challenge." Rahul Narwekar Elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker; Here's All About the Colaba BJP MLA Who Is India's Youngest To Hold the August Constitutional Post.
The Los Angeles lawsuit also said that TikTok algorithms exploit users under the age of 18, whose brains aren't fully developed enough to control their impulses and emotions. While TikTok hasn't responded as yet, in 2021, a spokesperson from the social media giant told People magazine that the "blackout challenge" predated social media and "has never been a TikTok trend."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2022 10:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).