A growing number of lawsuits have been filed by the angry parents of children who strangled themselves to death while participating in TikTok’s “Blackout Challenge,” which encourages users to choke themselves until they pass out.
The parents claim their children became addicted to TikTok, and then died after attempting the Blackout Challenge.
TikTok has recently stopped users from searching for the term “Blackout Challenge,” but lawyers claim that TikTok failed to do enough.
For example, TikTok could have stopped the dangerous trend last year, as kids were dying, or take simple steps to verify that new users were actually 13 years old.
The most recent lawsuit was filed by the parents of 8-year-old Lalani Walton, and 9-year-old Arriani Arroyo, two girls who died last year. The details of each case are horrifying to read.
Their attorney claimed, “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.”
The lawsuit names 5 other children who also died last year after performing the “Blackout Challenge,” proving that TikTok continued to profit off the craze, though the videos were clearly dangerous for kids. All of the children who died were under 15 years old.
The lawsuit names several other dangerous challenges that have spawned on TikTok — like setting themselves on fire, overdosing on Benadryl, causing head injuries, or licking things in public.
The TikTok Lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the Social Media Victims Law Center — Case Number 22STCV21355.